Those Left Behind
by PenName76
Summary: Breaking Dawn AU: Jacob must flee with Nessie from the standoff with the Volturi. He fulfills his promise to Bella by bringing her to Charlie.
1. Chapter 1

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Stephenie Meyer owns it all.**_

**JANUARY**

Two months. It had been two months since Charlie Swan had seen his daughter and grand-daughter. He could care less about his son-in-law. This was probably his fault anyway. He had always thought that he was a bastard.

The last time Charlie had seen all of them together was on Christmas Day. Edward was his usual cool as a cucumber self, but no matter how hard Bella had tried to hide it, he knew that something was wrong. Jake had once warned him that one day, Bella was going to take off on him. Maybe his daughter knew that this was coming and couldn't face him. No matter how bad it could possibly be, no matter how deep dark the secret was, Charlie would have done whatever it took to keep them in his life. Bella knew all of this.

So why in they hell, Charlie thought, had he not seen hide or hair of them since early January? They had been speaking almost everyday and up until that point and Bella had brought Nessie over to see him several times a week. He knew that leaving would be a possibility, but she had promised him that she would at least keep in touch in some way. She had promised him. And then, one day, she just stopped answering the phone. Edward never picked up his cell phone either.

Charlie had gone over to the Cullen house. All of the cars were still there and even a few that didn't belong to them. But there was no sign of life in the house. The lights were all out. In fact, he went by twice and knocked on the door, but no one ever answered. At first, he had given them the benefit of the doubt that they could just have not been home. It was a hope he held onto tightly.

The third time Charlie went by was different. He would get to the bottom of this. The front door was locked and so was the back. The back of the house was covered completely by metal. He wondered to himself when they had decided to cover up the glass. It looked as though the Cullens were defending themselves against something. From the back, it looked like a fortress. There was no way in hell Charlie was going to be able to get through that metal. He would have to find another way inside.

As Charlie was walking around to the front of the house from the other side, he noticed another structure a little ways off that he had never noticed before. It was the same design as the main house, but it was hidden by the trees. Charlie made his way over to it and realized it was a garage of some sort, but far bigger than any garage that he had ever seen.

Luck was on Charlie's side because one of the smaller doors in the rear of the structure was unlocked. He knew no one was around to see, but he still tried to be stealth about it as he slid inside. After fumbling around in the dark for a minute, Charlie was able to find a light switch. Before him was the most beautiful and impressive collection of cars that he had ever seen. Edward's Volvo was parked in front of the house along with a red BMW, but Charlie definitely recognized the Aston Martin as the car that Edward had driven Bella in to the prom. Bella's Mercedes was also parked alongside Carlisle's own Mercedes. However, the car that was parked all the way in the back was by far the most amazing car that Charlie had ever seen in his whole life. A Ferrari. It took his breath away. So much so that the yellow Porsche parked next to it paled in comparison.

Charlie knew that people in Carlisle's position made a hell of a lot more money than any other Forks resident could ever dream of making, but all of this was beyond even the salary of the Chief of Surgery at Forks General Hospital.

After Bella and Edward got engaged, Edward had sat down with Charlie to discuss the finer points of his financial situation. His birth father had been a lawyer and had left him several million dollars as well as the family home in Chicago. Apparently, it was an old house built in the late 1800's. With Carlisle's help, he had modernized the property and now rented it out for a pretty penny. He also had a team of lawyers who took care of it for him. Carlisle and his advisors had helped Edward invest his inheritance. Edward did not come out and say it, but he implied that Bella and any children that they might have would never want for anything or even ever have to work. How his daughter ended up in the only teenage marriage with a millionaire, Charlie would never know.

But there was always more than meets the eye with Edward. With all of the Cullens really. Bella had given birth to Nessie in just under a month after the wedding. Even if she had been pregnant at the wedding, she definitely didn't look it. Yet, Charlie was not allowed to know how all of this was possible. However Nessie may have come into existence, Charlie knew one thing for sure. She was his grand-daughter. Her last name may be Cullen, but she was still a Swan as far as he was concerned. She was a part of him.

As Charlie looked around the garage, he noticed a pegboard against the far wall with some keys hanging off of it. He walked over to it and saw that the keys were all labeled. Charlie thought he had hit the jackpot. One of the keys was labeled "Main House". He grabbed it and hightailed it over to the mansion. Again, he took a quick look around before putting the key into the lock. Everything that even remotely involved the Cullens made him jumpy. Once he was sure that no one was watching, he entered the house.

Without the Cullens actually there, the house almost felt normal. It sure as hell looked normal to Charlie. It was a suburban home like any other. Well, it was the suburban house of a wealthy doctor in Forks. It was a castle to a lot of people in the area. Everybody in town was always curious about this house. This family intrigued people everywhere they went and left people wanting to no more no matter how normal their lives seemed.

In front of Charlie was the staircase that he walked down with Bella on her wedding day. That moment was forever seared into his memory. It was the day that changed things forever. Charlie always knew that it would, but the changes were far more than he could have anticipated. Giving her away to Edward had apparently meant that Bella had turned away from any sort of normal life that her father had hoped she would have had. Soon, Bella had contracted some sort of rare tropical disease and, a month later, gave birth. Charlie tried to shake off this knowledge.

Billy had always had some farfetched prejudice against the Cullens. He never failed to warn Charlie that they could never be trusted. In hindsight, it was some sort of mystical knowing that he had been privy to.

_I should have listened_ Charlie thought to himself. _I should have kept Edward Cullen away from my little girl._

Charlie moved throughout the first floor. The living room, the dining room and the kitchen. Whenever Charlie had visited, Esme would always have this delicious fruit drink on hand. It was some sort of European soda water. It was probably wrong to do it, but he was thirsty. There in the refrigerator, Charlie found what he was looking for. Right there next to the eggs, English muffins, some now wilting lettuce and several packets of blood. Somebody was taking their work home with them.

Downstairs didn't really give Charlie any clues as to their whereabouts, so he headed up to the second floor. The first room was what must be Carlisle and Esme's room. Like the rest of the house, the furnishings were pure luxury. Everything was cream colored and airy. On the dresser was their wedding picture. They must have had a theme wedding because those two were dressed like people from the 1920's or 30's. He felt funny snooping so he kept moving.

Down the hall were two more bedrooms. One guess which one belonged to Alice. For someone who was so meticulous about wedding planning, there were clothes strewn about on every surface almost as though someone had been in a hurry. Just as he was about to leave the room, he noticed another wedding picture. This one looked like it had been taken in the 1950's. Theme weddings must have been a family favorite. Every moment became more and more bizarre. He never knew Alice and Jasper were married.

Charlie was aware that there was more to Alice and Jasper's relationship than a familial bond. Bella had assured him it was okay because they were both adopted. There was still something wrong about it to Charlie. Yet, it didn't escape his attention that the two seemed so well suited to each other. So did Rosalie and Emmett, but it still seemed just so wrong.

Trying to shake off this internal debate, the chief of police found himself moving to the third floor. While the second floor had multiple doors running along the same length, this floor only had two doors on opposite sides of the hall. Charlie looked at both doors and tried to open the one to his right. However, it was locked and when he glanced up at the wall beside it, he noticed an electronic keypad. Charlie reasoned that he may have to come back another day with his tools and break the door down. Something told him that should the Cullens ever return, it was unlikely they would want to get the authorities involved for breaking and entering. So, Charlie attempted to see what was behind the second door. He was in luck. It was unlocked.

However, the contents of this room were far less sinister than what he imagined was behind the other door. This room was obviously a playroom for Nessie. It was filled with toys, books, dress-up clothes and every other item that could delight a young child. It completely ripped Charlie's heart out to know that she would most likely never return to play with any of it. Even if she did, she would have long outgrown her childhood.

It was at that moment that Charlie Swan realized that he would never see his daughter and grand-daughter ever again. He had hoped, but he knew in his heart that it was all over. They were gone. His love for them and this empty house were the only proof that they had ever existed. For the first time since his divorce, Charlie broke down sobbing. Looking back on the history of his relationship with Bella, it seemed to be filled with more strife than loving moments. Renee had taken her away. He saw her for only two weeks out of the year at most. Then, when she finally came to live with him, she was almost immediately stolen away by Edward Cullen. Even when Edward left her, she was still with him. She still belonged to him. Charlie never stood a chance. He wondered if the fates had ever meant for him to be a father at all.

**MARCH**

The last two months had seemed like a frenzied eternity to Jacob Black. From the moment he took off running from that snow-covered field in Forks with Nessie on his back, life had never been the same.

He had pushed his body in a way he never had before. Jacob ran them directly to Seattle. He phased back and dressed. Then he found a motel room. It was just for a few hours, but Jacob was now responsible for the life of a child so he needed to get organized. Nessie sat on the bed and watched Jacob with wide eyes as he went through the contents of her backpack. Bella had indeed been thorough. Jacob found ID's and passports for the two of them as well as several hundred thousand dollars in cash. There was also a piece of paper that merely read "Rio de Janeiro". He assumed that is where his friend wanted him to take his daughter.

Now that the next leg of their journey was established, Jacob had to get practical. There was no way he could travel internationally with all that cash. He needed to convert some of it to Travelers Checks and put the rest where he could access it whenever or wherever he might need it. This would require a bank that gave him personal attention. A rich people bank. Jacob picked up the complimentary newspaper and flipped to the business section. He skimmed several articles, but there was only one that caught his interest. It was about the Ferris family who were pretty much considered to be Seattle aristocracy. They had made a fortune in logging and now had transitioned their wealth into the tech market. Harold Ferris, the patriarch, had been seen lunching with Archie Vandenberg, head of Seattle First Federal Bank. The clients at Seattle First Federal were afforded very personal and very discreet attention. It was the equivalent of concierge banking. Jacob knew that the money he had was only a drop in the bucket for a bank like that, but the personal service and accessibility was exactly what he needed.

"Jakey, I'm hungry." Said Nessie in barely as whisper as though the walls had ears.

For the time being and most likely for the foreseeable future, Jacob would be acting as both mother and father to Nessie. He loved Nessie and would do his best to care for her in all the ways that a parent would. He had lost his own mother early on and had practically raised himself even with Billy around. But that wouldn't be good enough for Nessie. Especially since they had been reduced to running for their lives.

Jacob tried to think back to how he'd seen Bella and Edward raise Nessie. Even in the most dire of situations with a sword hanging over their heads, Nessie's parents had always insisted upon structure. Bedtimes were enforced, vegetables were eaten, toys were picked up and beds were made. Structure was the key. Structure would become his friend.

Structure would hopefully be a comfort to Nessie when she finally fully understood that all was indeed lost.

However, they still needed to get the hell out of Seattle. The best square meal Jacob could do right now was a selection of sugary foods from the vending machine down the hall.

While Nessie ate, Jacob explained to her that her new identity was Vanessa Wolfe and that he would be pretending to be her father. He told her that the bad people might come to find them and her mother had wanted them to go to Brazil.

"We're a team now, Nessie," Jacob said with a smile. "…and teams stick together. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Even though Nessie didn't quite fully understand that her way of life as she knew it was gone, she knew that she was alone with Jacob. She knew that he would protect her and care for her. She clung to his every word and command like a life boat. Nessie knew little of the outside world, but was smart enough to know that she should be frightened. Should be, but having Jacob with her made things a little less scary.

"Now, we have to stop at the bank and then we need to go straight to the airport so we can fly to Brazil. You need to stay with me at all times and don't let go of my hand. Now I need you to promise that you'll follow the rules, okay?"

"I promise. I'll be good." Nessie nodded vigorously and her curls sprang out all over.

He was stern, but didn't want to be too hard on her so he drew her into a hug.

"That's my girl. Sweetheart, I promise you, everything is going to be fine. Like I said, don't wander off and no talking to strangers." The little girl nodded. Jacob pulled back and looked at her. "Now, do you have to go to the bathroom before we go?"

It had been too easy. So easy that Jacob was sure the Volturi were just giving him a head start.

Jacob and Nessie had walked into Seattle First Federal Bank hours earlier and had managed to silence everyone. His hulking physique and her ethereal beauty caused everyone to take notice. Even Archie Vandenberg, the head of the bank, was intrigued. In fact, he personally attended to them, giving them his solemn oath that he would oversee the account himself. Mr. Vandenberg was especially understanding about the covert administration required. Jacob liked him. For a rich person, he wasn't half bad. He didn't ask any questions. Jacob suspected that this was how Mr. Vandenberg became rich in the first place.

Jacob and Nessie hailed a cab immediately and sped off to SEA-TAC. Jacob looked over this shoulder at every turn, petrified that they were being watched. Were the Cullens able to defeat the Volturi and their flight unnecessary? What about his friends? Were the wolves still alive? Jacob wasn't about to stick around and risk Nessie's life to find out. He had promised his best friend that he would protect her daughter with his life. Jacob would never dare break that promise.

Upon arrival at the international terminal, Jacob found a flight to Rio via Houston. And for the cost of what would surely feed a third world country, Jacob purchased two first class tickets. He would be better about conserving cash in the future, but he could just not deal with the restricted legroom in coach. They quickly made their way through security although they did raise a few eyebrows traveling internationally without luggage. Jacob told them that due to lost luggage in the past, they had chosen to ship it via Fedex ahead of time. With an hour to kill until their flight started boarding, Jacob decided that it would be a good idea to pick up some new clothes. There wasn't much to choose from, but he was able to pick up a new pair of pants, shorts and a t-shirt. For Nessie, they bought a sweatshirt and a t-shirt. He also thought it would be a good idea to buy some baseball caps for both of them.

He also picked up books about Brazil and Rio in particular as well as an English to Portuguese dictionary. Nessie picked out two books and a child's guide to Portuguese. Soon they were settled in the first class lounge and snacked a bit. However, neither Jacob nor Nessie really felt like eating. Everything was beginning to sink in and become real. Jacob stroked Nessie's hair while she was seated next to him. She looked defeated and deflated.

"You okay, Ness?"

Nessie didn't answer right away and looked off into the distance. Finally, she swallowed and then spoke at last.

"I'm never going to see my mommy and daddy again, am I?"

Jacob wondered what he had done in his life to deserve this horrible fate of having to tell such an innocent and sweet child such an awful thing. He hesitated a moment before answering; pausing so he could remember a time when she still had hope.

"No, I don't think so, sweetheart."

She dropped her head and stared at the floor unseeingly while silent tears made their way down her cheeks. Jacob wondered what kind of world they lived in where something like this had to happen.

"But you'll always stay with me, won't you, Jakey?"

Jacob reached down and stroked her hair. She turned to look at him, her pain written all over her face.

"I will always stay with you and protect you. You never have to worry about that."

And there really was no doubt in Jacob's mind about that. Nessie was practically family and with the exception of Charlie and Renee, he himself was really they only person she had. Jacob marveled at her bravery in the midst of all the chaos. She was undoubtedly strong. She reminded him of Edward.

Not long afterwards, Jacob and Nessie were eating the first square meal they had had in the last twenty-four hours. Jacob was enjoying the best filet mignon that first class had to offer while Nessie had the chicken. All of the stewardesses were charmed by the adorable auburn-haired child and made sure that she was the first passenger to get dessert. It was a simple comfort and distraction, but one that Jacob was glad she could have.

In between sleeping and eating their way to Brazil, Jacob read up on Rio de Janeiro. Better that than trying to make heads or tails of rudimentary Portuguese. Besides, it seemed much more likely that Nessie would pick it up more quickly as she was powering through her language book. There were more important things to worry about. According to the guidebooks, tourists should not venture too far from their hotels since Rio could be a very dangerous place. In fact, there was a section called City of God. It was called this because God was the only person who dared go there. Now Jacob didn't mind so much for himself. It was doubtful that anyone would hassle him, but he didn't want Nessie to be frightened in any way. That meant that they would need to stay somewhere with good security. Alas, that would mean staying in a pricey hotel. So much for saving money, but Jacob wasn't going to take any chances.

Upon their arrival in Rio, Jacob hailed a cab and directed the driver to take them to the Copacabana Palace Hotel. Jacob had decided on that particular hotel because they guidebooks said it was in a secure area and practically right on the beach. As the cab pulled up outside the hotel, Jacob couldn't help but feel like a fish out of water. He was disheveled because of the long journey and he was carrying a sleeping child. To say that people stared would be an understatement. Jacob reasoned that he would have to make an attempt to fit in with the opulent surroundings lest people started asking questions.

Jacob approached the reservation desk and adjusted Nessie on his shoulder. The woman behind the desk was dressed in a crisp black suit with her dark hair swept up and secured in a chignon. Her makeup was impeccable and everything about her seemed to be flawless. Alice would have liked her. She acknowledged him in Portuguese, but quickly noticed Jacob's hesitation.

"Would it be more helpful for me to speak English?" She said in a softly accented voice. Jacob exhaled with relief.

"Yes, please!"

"You are looking to check into the hotel, yes?"

"Yes, I would like a room with two beds please."

"And what is the length of your stay with us?"

"One week, please." Jacob felt it would be more prudent to stay only a short time while they got a taste of life in Rio. He reasoned that they would change hotels every so often to remain undetected. The woman clicked away at her computer while she looked for a vacancy.

"Sir, I do see we have a room for you and your daughter with an ocean view on the fifth floor for $449 US dollars a night."

"Perfect." The woman looked up and smiled.

"Your credit card, please?"

Jacob fished in his pocket for his card and slid it across the counter to the woman.

"Thank you. My name is Inez. Please let me know if I can do anything else to make your stay with us more comfortable."

A few hours after checking in, Nessie was sleeping soundly in bed. She had woken up while they were riding in the elevator going up to the room. When they entered the room, Nessie squealed and ran to the bed. Then she tore around the room inspecting all the amenities. The room was elegantly decorated in light colors with blue accents. Plush furniture invited them in as well as the sweeping views of the ocean and Copacabana Beach. There was a cabinet with a flatscreen television and a fully stocked minibar. The bathroom had a bathtub and a shower and it was completely covered in marble. There were high-end bath products and the most luxurious, fluffy white towels sitting on the counter. The ocean view could be enjoyed more thoroughly from the balcony, but Jacob thought it best that they stay inside during the daytime for now. It was late afternoon in Rio and it would soon be time for Nessie to go to sleep. She certainly needed it. While Nessie took a bath, Jacob ordered room service. Soon, they were eating club sandwiches in front of the TV while they watched American sitcoms dubbed into Portugese.

Jacob had taken a shower after he had put Nessie to bed. It was dark now and he stepped out onto the balcony. Even though his entire world had been upended, he was now experiencing a moment of calm. It hit him. How far he had come in just the last few days. The furthest he had ever been from La Push was Canada. Now he was running across the globe trying to keep his best friend's daughter alive. He was her only chance. Jacob thought more about his friend. He knew in his heart that both Bella and Edward were dead. The Volturi had descended upon them and exercised their own brand of justice driven by their own jealousy. Jacob had wanted to break down and cry. After all, he may look like a man on the outside, but he was still very much a boy on the inside. And a scared one at that. He couldn't though. He had to keep it together for Nessie. He had to keep it together if he was going to be on his guard. Jacob took a deep breath and inhaled the sea air as well as the various flora and fauna. He felt clean. Especially since there was no trace of the fragrance of old death that vampires carried with them. They were safe. For now.

For the first few days, Jacob kept Nessie inside the room. She understood why, but the little girl was starting to go stir crazy. So Jacob took her out for a bit. They had lunch and bought some new clothes including swimsuits. Nessie had taken one look at the hotel pool and made Jacob promise that he would teach her how to swim.

And for the next two months, their lives continued in this pattern. Jacob continually extended their stay at the Copacabana Palace which offered Nessie some consistency. They would go to the hotel restaurant for breakfast and then spend all day by the pool or in the ocean. Nessie might meet a new friend to play with whose family was staying at the hotel on vacation. In the afternoons, she would read a book or practice her Portuguese with the hotel staff. Everyone just loved her.

Not once since they had been here had Jacob sensed anyone or anything coming after them. He knew what Bella had intended by sending them to the sunny locale, yet, he couldn't help but think that there was something that they had to wait for in Rio. Everyday, Jacob waited for some sort of message or some sort of sign, but nothing ever came. It had been two months. If the Volturi were coming after them, they would have found them and taken them no matter the weather report. They had ways and means beyond their limitations. They must have been happy enough to decimate the Cullens. Maybe they felt they did not need Nessie after all.

If Bella and Edward had survived, surely they would have found them by now.

Jacob felt it was time to fulfill his other promise to Bella.

He would take Nessie home to Charlie and tell him everything.

_**A/N: Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. **_

_**Also, please note that I am probably not going to include the imprint in this story. I have always thought it was bizarre and, frankly, inappropriate and cannot bring myself to write about a relationship like that. It just creeps me out so I will instead focus on the friendship and obligation Jacob feels to his friend who has entrusted him with her daughter.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Stephenie Meyer owns it all. Lucky bitch.**_

Chapter 2

After being in Brazil for two months, Forks seemed much colder than Nessie remembered. Perhaps it was because when she left, there was still a chance that she had a mother and a father, grandparents, aunts, uncles and a home. Now, there were the near constant feelings of dread and insecurity that weren't quite the same types of feelings she had when the threat of the bad people was hanging over their heads. No, it was the fact that she would be reminded of what she had lost. It was a small comfort to know that she hadn't lost everything.

When Nessie first boarded the plane in Rio to head back to the United States, Jacob explained that he was taking her back to Forks to live with her Grandpa Charlie as her mother had wanted. While she was excited that she would be reunited with a member of her family, it made her wonder if it would cause another to leave.

"Jakey, are you getting tired of me?"

"What? No! Nessie, your mother asked me to bring you back to Forks, to your grandpa. That doesn't mean I'm going to leave you. I'll be with you every step of the way."

"You promise?" Asked Nessie, somewhat disbelieving. Jacob looked her straight in the eye to stress his sincerity.

"I promise you."

Once more, they endured the long plane ride home. Both had settled into a deep sleep for most of the ride. By the time they arrived at the Seattle airport in the late afternoon, Jacob and Nessie were alert. Alert and full of trepidation at the reception they would receive upon their return. Jacob rented a car and soon they were on their way to the Olympic Peninsula.

The sun began to set as they approached the small town. It was still a bit early on a Wednesday night for Charlie to be home from work. Jacob thought he would take Nessie hunting to kill some time and also because she had been living off the blood of birds and whatever small animals they could find near the hotel. So, Jacob drove to a wooded area not far from La Push and took Nessie deep into the forest. He helped her take down a deer. She was most definitely thirsty, but one deer was the equivalent to a child's portion.

Soon they made their way back to the car. Nessie had a slight flush in her cheeks now that she was properly fed.

"Jakey?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Do you think Grandpa Charlie will recognize me?"

"Of course, he will! You look exactly like you did when we…left."

And it wasn't a lie to make the little girl feel better. In the past two months, Nessie's growth had slowed. Stabilized even. She looked like a young four year old. In fact, she was able to wear the same clothes they had purchased at the beginning of their time in Rio for which Jacob was grateful. He really was not good at picking out clothing for young girls. Once was enough.

"So are you happy to see your grandpa?" Jacob asked excitedly in an effort to lighten the mood.

"Oh yes!" Nessie laughed as she nodded her head.

"Just think how impressed he'll be when he finds out that you can swim."

"Can we go swimming at First Beach so I can show him? Can we?" Her eyes were shining and Jacob was grateful for the distraction.

"Slow down, kiddo! It's still March! The water is going to be a bit chilly for swimming just yet."

"Okay, but this summer, we must go swimming!" Squealed the little girl.

"We must? Well, when you put it like that I guess we have to."

"And can we have a big bonfire with songs and a barbeque and potato salad? And fireworks! I want to see fireworks!"

"Fireworks _and _potato salad? I don't know, Ness. That's a tall order." Jacob couldn't help but laugh. He had entertained Nessie with stories about the pack's adventures at First Beach. Nessie had never experienced the Fourth of July so she was eager to see what the fuss was all about. And there was a part of Nessie that wanted to be a part of something that was bigger than herself. Most of her life, she had been isolated and sequestered. She just wanted to go out and take part in life just like everyone else.

Soon they found themselves driving down a familiar street. It was the street on which residents of Forks kept to the speed limit. Teenagers never blasted music through the open windows of their beater cars. It was the street where Chief Charlie Swan lived. In the driveway sat the infamous police cruiser. With Jacob's acute hearing, he could discern the sounds of ESPN and a can of beer opening.

Jake pulled up to the curb opposite the Swan home and turned off the car. He took a deep breath and looked in the rear view mirror to look at Nessie. Her excitement had seemingly transformed into something entirely different: fear.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" The little girl hesitated to respond.

"Nessie?"

"Well…is Grandpa Charlie going to be mad at me?"

"Mad at you? No, honey, your grandpa loves you. He'll be thrilled to see you. I'm sure he's missed you something awful."

Moments later, they stood in front of the door to the Chief's house. In just a minute, their small circle would become wider. There would be one more person they would be able to trust. The world was about to become a little less lonely. Jacob looked down at Nessie and smiled. Nessie threw her arms around his legs and held on tight.

"Thank you, Jakey."

"Anything for you, squirt. Now do you want to do the honors or shall I?"

Nessie let go of Jacob's leg and rang the doorbell. The sound of footsteps became louder and louder and then paused. Charlie was just on the other side of the door. As he looked through the peephole, he wondered if his deputy, Mark, had stopped by with some crisis. But at the sight of the miracle he saw through the small glass circle, the door flew open.

Charlie could barely breathe, let alone speak. He fell to his knees and took his grand-daughter's face in his hands not quite believing what he was seeing.

"Nessie? Nessie?"

"Grandpa, it's me! Don't you recognize me?"

Charlie threw his arms around Nessie and pulled her tightly to him.

"Baby, I would know you anywhere! I just thought I'd never see you again! I've missed you so much!"

"Hey, Charlie." Chimed in Jacob.

Chief Swan looked up at Jacob. He rose to his feet and took Nessie with him, holding her in one arm and hugging Jacob with the other one.

"Jake, welcome back. I'm so glad to see ya and you have no idea how happy your dad will be. Where the heck have you been?"

"We've got a lot to talk about." Charlie loosened his grip on Jacob and looked towards the street hopefully.

"Bella with you?"

Jacob closed his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath. How was he going to find the words to this man his daughter was dead?

"No, she's not."

Charlie nodded. He didn't want to upset Nessie. He already knew the answer anyway. He felt it deep down in his gut. Just then, Sue Clearwater appeared. She was wearing an apron and wiping her hands with a kitchen towel.

"Charlie? What's going on out here?" She stopped in her tracks when she saw the visitors and her hand flew to her mouth.

"Oh my goodness! Jake? Nessie?" Jacob engulfed Sue in a hug.

"Jake, honey, where have you been? We've been so worried about you! Does you're father know you're here? You need to call him right away!"

Jacob couldn't his giddiness at the feeling of being cared for and looked after. He was just a boy himself after all. They released each other from their embrace.

"No, he doesn't know yet. I thought I should get Nessie home first. I'll call him right now."

"Better yet, I'll have Seth drive him over here. Now all of you come inside. You'll catch a cold out here. She almost skipped into the kitchen to call Seth about a surprise for Billy.

The remaining three went back inside the house and settled into the living room. Charlie sat down on the lounger with Nessie in his lap.

"Grandpa, I'm so happy to see you. I've missed you so much."

"Me too, sweetheart, me too. Are you hungry? You too, Jake. Have you eaten?"

"Oh Charlie, I'm starving." Just then, Sue reappeared looking apologetic.

"I only made enough for two and we ate already. How about we order some pizza?" Nessie twisted around to fully face her grandfather.

"Can we, Grandpa? Can we? I would love pizza!"

Charlie couldn't help but grin.

"Of course we can, but with Jake and Seth, we'd better order a few." Charlie dug into his pocket producing his wallet which he tossed to Sue.

While he still couldn't contain his happiness, Charlie needed to know details, however vague they might be. Jacob could tell by Charlie's expression that this would be an uncomfortable and painful line of questioning.

"So…Jake, where the heck have you been?"

"Well, Charlie, we've been down in Brazil. Rio actually." At that mention, Nessie piped up.

"Grandpa, we stayed in a big hotel by the beach! And I learned how to swim! Jakey taught me. I'm really good."

"Is that so? So if I throw you in the river, you'll swim all the way to the ocean by yourself?"

Nessie thought hard about this as though it was an actual possibility. Charlie tousled her hair and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," He turned his attention back to Jacob. "I'm pretty sure they have phones in Brazil, even email. Heck, I think they've even got one of those fancy post offices down there." Jacob looked down at the floor and then tentatively glanced back up to look him in the eye.

"It wasn't safe."

"I reckon there's a lot you can't tell me-"

"I'll tell you everything. That's how Bella wanted it." Interrupted Jacob. It was a loaded statement and Charlie knew it. He swallowed and then looked down at Nessie.

"Besides, I think it would be better to wait until my dad gets here." Charlie nodded in agreement and Sue took this as her cue and held her hand out to the little girl.

"Nessie, why don't you help me look for some clean sheets to put on the bed?"

Charlie mouthed "thanks" to Sue. Nessie slid off of Charlie's lap and took Sue's hand. Sue touched the top of Nessie's hair which was in a ponytail.

"Oh Nessie, what happened to your hair? It's one big tangle!" Nessie just shrugged.

"Jakey said it's easier to tie it back because it gets so knotty. He didn't know how to do my hair the way Aunt Rose does it." Sue narrowed her eyes at Jacob.

"Well, perhaps it would be a good idea to give you a bath then too." Jacob jumped up.

"Let me get the bags out of the car." Charlie raised his eyebrows.

"Bags?" Sue quickly shuffled Nessie up the stairs.

"I promised her that I would never leave her and always protect her. I intend to keep that promise." Said Jacob with such ferocity that Charlie could not question his conviction.

Once Jacob had deposited Nessie's bag in Bella's old room, he rejoined Charlie downstairs. Charlie was silent as Jacob situated himself on the couch. Charlie threw up his hands.

"I can't wait for Billy. Ya gotta give me something." Jacob shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, Charlie, for all of this to make sense, I'm going to have to start at the beginning. From the time that Bella came to Forks. But first, I have to warn you that what I'm about to tell you will put you in grave danger." Charlie rolled his eyes slightly. He knew nothing of the enormity of the story he was about to hear.

"Son, I'm the chief of police. Granted, it's a small town, but I assure you that even small towns have dangerous secrets."

"With all due respect, Forks isn't exactly like any other small town. And this story goes far beyond Forks. A few years ago, the population grew by seven people and officially became one of the most deadly places on earth. And no one noticed. Not even you."

"So it all leads back to Edward and his family as usual." Charlie shook his head. "Go on."

"Well, I guess the first thing you need to understand…and this is a big one…is that the Cullens were different to say the least." Jacob couldn't believe that he was about to tell Bella's father the truth. This was the exact thing they had been hoping to avoid for years. For Charlie to be none the wiser.

Jacob proceeded to tell Charlie how Bella's first day at Forks High school would unleash a series of deadly events that would change all their lives forever. How, at first, Bella believed the sullen and beautiful boy in Biology hated her and even deserted her at one point. But then he came back and prevented her from being killed not only by a runaway van, but from a roving group of bikers intent on having some "fun". Charlie's eyes widened. He had never been told about that night in Port Angeles. Soon, the two teenagers had fallen in love even though Edward had protested time and time again that he was no good for Bella. Eventually, Bella had discovered Edward's secret, but wanted to be with him anyway.

"And what was the secret?" Demanded Charlie.

"Like I said, Charlie, the Cullens were not exactly normal." Charlie was getting angry now by Jacob's evasion.

"Jake, I watched you turn into a wolf. My grand-daughter is less than a year old, but looks almost five. I'm aware that something was different about the Cullens so just spit it out!" His breathing had grown labored. Jacob held his hand up.

"This information will change your life and make you a target. You can never tell anyone and Nessie's survival depends on your silence. Do you understand that this is for her protection as well as yours?"

"Yes." Said Charlie through gritted teeth.

"Edward and his family were vampires." Admitted Jacob slowly. "And so was Bella after she gave birth to Nessie."

Charlie took a moment to digest this revelation.

"But wait, you're saying that having Nessie turned Bella into a vampire?"

"Not exactly. The stress of carrying a vampire's baby is too much for a human. Nessie was growing so fast and so strong that she was kicking Bella's ribs apart. She broke her spine even. I didn't think she was gonna make it, but Edward…Edward saved her life. Well, not life exactly because once you become a vamp, you're not technically alive. He kind of sustained her existence, I guess. He bit her and he injected his venom straight into her heart. Three days later, she woke up as one of the undead."

"That son of a bitch murdered her."

"No, Charlie! That last thing Edward ever wanted to do was to hurt Bella! I know you don't believe me, but I swear this is what Bella wanted."

"Oh, I believe it! She followed that bastard around like a puppy dog and it killed her."

"She wanted to stay with him forever. They wanted to be together. With or without Nessie, Bella was always going to do whatever it took to stay with Edward."

"And he was too much of a selfish ass to let her. He just took what he wanted. But that's a monster for you." He was becoming deadly calm in light of this information. So much so that Jacob was bewildered.

"Charlie, before I go any further, you sure are…I just have to ask how it is that you are taking this so well." Charlie looked at Jacob with an angry smirk.

"Well, son, when you see a teenaged boy turn into a wolf in front of your eyes, you begin to realize that there's a lot about the world you don't know and just about any damned thing is possible. And to be honest, it fits together nicely with all of the other pieces I've been trying my hardest to make fit together. Now, I just can't get over the fact that my daughter was out there murdering people and drinking their blood."

"Bella never killed anyone! That's not how the Cullens were!"

"Well then, Jake, since you now feel the need to defend their good name, explain to me how the Cullens were because I fail to see how they're the good guys in all this."

"They didn't hunt humans. They only hunted animals. Carlisle was committed to saving human life, not taking it. They all were. Some had a harder time than others, but that's how they chose to live. And they were considered outcasts for it in the vampire world. In the three hundred plus years that Carlisle was alive, he never took a human life. Ever." Charlie's jaw dropped in disbelief.

"You're telling me that Carlisle Cullen was over three hundred years old? Well, then…how the hell old was Edward?"

"Well, all I know is that he was born at the turn of the century-"

"Which century?" Interjected Charlie.

"I think he was born around 1900. I know for sure that he was from Chicago and was dying from the Spanish Flu. Carlisle was his doctor and saved him. I do know that Edward was the first to join the family or the coven. Esme came next, but I'm not sure about the rest of them. Oh! Rosalie was from upstate New York, Emmett was from somewhere in Appalachia, Alice doesn't remember her human life and Jasper fought in the Civil War."

'The Civil War?"

"Yup. Don't know all the details. I know he's an amazing fighter though. He pretty much led the charge during the newborn fight to protect Bella from Victoria."

"Come again?"

"I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me backtrack a bit. Bella and Edward met in biology class. Bella thought he didn't like her at first, but for someone who didn't like her, he saved her life a lot."

Jacob then enlightened Charlie about how Bella and Edward were drawn together and fell in love. How Bella uncovered his secret and her introduction into his world that took a dangerous turn during a friendly game of vampire baseball."

"So she didn't fall down the stairs? A vampire named James did that to her? Son of a bitch. She looked like a rag doll."

"Yeah, he bit her trying to kill her or turn her, I'm not sure, but Edward saved her life. He sucked out the venom."

"But he had no qualms about bringing her into that life to begin with. And then he just up and left her!" Charlie couldn't contain his anger now that they had arrived at the darkest period of Bella's life. He knew it well. After all, he had been there. Edward had not.

"Charlie, you don't understand," Cautioned Jacob. "Edward left because he loved her. He didn't want that life, his life, for her. He told her it was because he had moved on, but he didn't want her to throw away her life. Edward wanted Bella to go to college, get married, have children. He didn't want her to become one of the undead. Believe me, it killed him to leave her."

Jacob continued to explain to Charlie how a massive misunderstanding had led to Edward's trip to Italy and the introduction of the Volturi into their story. Charlie closed his eyes trying to come to grips with all the twists and turns of Bella's life that had gone unnoticed by him.

"Now let me get this straight. You're telling me that Alice Cullen kidnapped my daughter and took her to Italy?"

"No, Alice didn't kidnap her. Bella was going to find Edward come hell or high water and bring him back."

"Sure, whatever. So Bella and Alice went to Italy and these vultures…?"

"The Volturi."

"The Volturi demanded that Bella either be eaten or turned into a vampire?"

"Yeah, but at that point Bella and Edward had pretty much decided that they couldn't live without each other. The Volturi just told them they would be checking up on them to make sure they followed through. And that pretty much sums it up. They decided to get married after graduation and then they would disappear afterward so she could be changed. She wanted you to walk her down the aisle though. Bella wanted to give that to you and Renee before she faked her death." Charlie sighed and put his head in his hands.

"Renee. What the hell am I going to tell Renee? She thinks Bella is still recovering in Atlanta." Just then, there was a knock on the front door. Jacob moved to the door and took stock of the scents in the air. Recognizing the familiar scents of Seth and his father, Jacob flung the door open.

"Dad!" Billy's eyes grew wide.

"Oh Jake! Thank God!" Jacob dropped to his knees and threw his arms around his father who returned the strong embrace.

"Thank God! Thank God you're okay!" Billy continued to quietly repeat this. Finally, Jacob pulled away from his father and jumped to his feet in order to hug Seth.

"Welcome back, man."

"It's good to be back, brother." They separated and gave each other pats on the back.

"Jake, where the hell have you been?"

"In short, Brazil. When the Volturi came here-"

"Wait!" Charlie interjected. "These Volturi people were here?"

"Yeah, they were alerted by another vampire."

"Alright, let's everybody come in and let's finish getting to the bottom of all this." He ushered all of his guests back into the living room. Jacob and Seth recounted the circumstances that led to the ancient predators landing on these shores and the battle that ensued.

"Ya see, it's against vampire law to turn children into vampires. They didn't understand that Nessie was Edward's biological child. She wouldn't stay a child. She would grow. But I think they were jealous of all the powers the Cullens had and wanted them to join their coven or something. The Cullens refused so the Volturi just wanted to take them out before they got too powerful."

"What do you mean by the Cullens had powers?" Seth fielded this question in his usual laidback manner.

"Charlie, it's like totally wicked cool. Alice was a psychic and Jasper could manipulate emotions. And the coolest was that Edward could read minds."

"Read minds?"

"Like he could hear all their thoughts as if their thoughts were spoken out loud. He couldn't hear Bella though. Turns out Bella had a power too. She could act as a shield with her mind and shield people from attacks. Or mind reading. Made for an interesting dynamic."

Charlie grew quiet as he thought about Edward's power. Billy knew what he was thinking about and smirked a bit.

"Something you'd like to share with the class, Swan?" Charlie glared at his best friend.

"Yes, buddy, he could hear every damn thing you thought about. Every time you wanted to kill him, he knew it."

"Anyway," Jacob continued. "The battle ended with Bella and Edward parting from their daughter and this world forever. And that's when Nessie and I left. Her parents entrusted her safety to me." His voice became strained and was barely louder than a whisper. Seth took over the next part of the story that Jacob had not witnessed.

"So after Jake and Nessie left, the Volturi unleashed everything they had at us right away. Emmett and Edward were in the fray trying to fight off the fiercest ones and protect the rest of us. And all of the other vamps, I mean their friends, fought right along with them. But there were so many of them. And even though Bella was by far the strongest, she wasn't an experienced fighter so it didn't take too much for the Volturi's…guard?" He looked to Jacob.

"Guard."

"…to take her down. Edward did everything he could to get to her, but he couldn't. He screamed and screamed for them to let her go, but they were too far apart. Everyone was fighting and then the next thing I know, I was hit by a jolt. And that's it. That's all I remember. I was woken up by Sam in my human form. All the wolves had been knocked out. When I woke, up, I could smell the fires burning nearby. Purple smoke."

Charlie raised his eyebrows.

"In order to kill a vampire, you have to rip off their appendages and set them on fire. The smoke is purple." Charlie took a moment to absorb that this had been his daughter's fate. Jake looked up suddenly.

"Wait, why were the wolves spared?" Seth just shrugged.

"Dunno. It remains a mystery."

"But we do know that there haven't been any vampires in the area since all this went down." Added Billy. "We believe it's safe. They did what they came to do. The boys will keep patrolling though." Billy wheeled his chair over to Charlie and put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"We won't let them hurt Nessie, Charlie." Charlie couldn't do anything but nod. The doorbell rang and Seth jumped up.

"Here, let me." Charlie turned to Jacob.

"Does Nessie know that her parents and the rest of the family are dead?"

"Yeah, she pretty much figured it out when Bella and Edward said goodbye to her. She acknowledged it, but she, um, never really mentions it. There have been a few episodes, but they are rare considering. She's really trying to be strong. I get the feeling that she thinks she caused all of the problems and must be a burden. But she's just about the sweetest little girl I've ever met."

"And she knows she's going to be living with me? You are staying, right?"

"Yeah, we're staying. Bella wanted you to raise her. And Nessie knows. She's missed you and she wants to be with her family. But like I said, I promised her that I would always be there for her. I'm staying close. The boys will always be near your house watching out for the both of you."

Upstairs, Sue had bathed Nessie and was making every attempt to get all of the knots out of Nessie's hair. However, her hair was so snarled that Nessie flinched even at Sue's most gentle attempts. Sue lifted the little girl's hair and shook her head.

"Sweetheart, I hate to tell you this, but I think we may need to cut your hair a bit." This set off a round of panic.

"No! Please no!"

"Well, honey, I can't get a brush through it and it's full of split ends. Now that you're home, we can take better care of it and it will grow quickly since it will be healthy again." Nessie's lip quivered and she successfully avoided crying as she nodded her head. Nessie used to love it when her mother would brush her hair.

"Believe me, it will be so much easier to take care of. I'm going to cut it into a chin length bob. You'll still be able to put it into pigtails." Sue rifled around in the drawers and eventually found a pair of scissors. She draped a towel on Nessie's shoulders. Nessie tried to swallow her fear and it did not go unnoticed by Sue.

"Don't be scared. It will grow back before you know it." Nessie still wasn't convinced. She had never had a haircut before. Aunt Alice never allowed it and, up until now, she never needed one.

Sue carefully snipped away the snarled clumps until they were all off. Then she cleaned up the ends so it was all even. After it grew in a bit, they could get a professional to fix it.

"Okay, all done! See how much better that looks? Now everyone can see your pretty face."

Nessie inspected the final product and felt better. Truth be told, it wasn't so short. Sue picked up the hair dryer and got to work. In no time, they were in Nessie's new room. Everything was just as Bella had left it when she moved out to get married. Sue stripped the bed and replaced the old sheets with fresh ones from the linen closet. She went through Nessie's bag that Jacob had left by the door. It was obvious that Jacob had not only ignored Nessie's hair, but the laundry as well. Nessie just sat on the bed awaiting instructions.

"Okay, we'll throw this in the wash tonight so you have something to wear tomorrow. Let's see if there's anything in the drawers for you." Sue opened the drawers and rummaged through their contents in search of something Nessie could sleep in. Finally, she came across a long t-shirt that read "FHS Athletics". Apparently, Bella had opted to not bring any reminder of her klutziness with her in her new life.

"Okay, Nessie, stand up for a second and lift up your arms." Nessie obliged and Sue quickly dressed her. The shirt fell just below the knee. Sue took the towel that Nessie had been wrapped in and put it in the bathroom hamper.

"My feet are cold." Said Nessie.

"Socks. There must be socks somewhere." And, sure enough, Sue found a pair of socks tucked into one of the drawers. After giving them to Nessie to put on, Sue looked around the room taking stock of everything. Perhaps it could use a bit of cheering up. It could definitely do with a dusting.

Downstairs, Charlie pulled out a chair at the kitchen table for Nessie and she sat down.

"Your hair looks mighty nice, Angel," Whispered Charlie to his grand-daughter.

"Doesn't it?" Said Jacob.

"It sure does." Said Billy as he smiled at the girl. Charlie put a paper plate with pizza in front of Nessie who attacked it and then gulped down the glass of milk that had been waiting for her.

"More, please." Charlie raised his eyebrows and obliged her request.

"Jake, didn't you feed this one while you were away?" The grandfather ran his fingers through his grad-daughter's hair and grinned at her. He was rewarded with a smile. Sue was loading the washing machine with Nessie's dirty clothes.

"All of these clothes are for a tropical climate. She's going to need some warmer clothes for Forks." Charlie took a long sip of his beer and set it down.

"Well, I think I'll take the rest of the week off. How 'bout tomorrow we get you some new clothes, Ness? Would you like that?" The little girl's face lit up.

"Yes! I want a pink party dress! Aunt Alice promised me a party dress! And mary janes! Patent leather ones! And hair ribbons!" Charlie held up his hand.

"Nessie, I'm sorry, but I think we need to be a little more practical. We'll make sure to get you some great clothes, but Grandpa doesn't have the same money as Grandpa Carlisle. Maybe one day we'll get you a party dress, but unfortunately not right now."

Nessie's face fell and she nodded before looking away. There were still adjustments that she would have to get used to before things could get back to normal. Whatever that was. In the six short months she had been alive, she had defied the odds just by coming into existence, lost her entire family in a play of retribution for her birth by the keepers of secret vampire law and ran for her life all the way to Brazil. A pink party dress seemed like a small sacrifice for a home.

Soon, Nessie couldn't keep her eyes open and she found herself being carried up the stairs by Jacob for bed. Charlie pulled back the covers and Jacob put her down. Once she was tucked in, Jacob kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight, Princess." Nessie's eyes shot open, her voice panicked.

"Jacob, are you leaving me?" Jacob shook his head in order to reassure her.

"No, I'm staying right here with you. I'm going to sleep on the couch downstairs."

"Promise?" He touched her cheek.

"I promise."

"Okay." Said Nessie sounding appeased.

Charlie leaned in and kissed the top of Nessie's head.

"Goodnight, Sweetheart. You're home now and you're safe."

Soon, Charlie, Jacob, Sue and Billy were seated around the kitchen table discussing logistics.

"She's stopped growing. That's good. It helps." Reasoned Charlie.

"Yeah, for now at least, but that could change. I think we just need to take it one day at a time." For that is exactly what Jacob had been doing for the last few months.

"But what happens after these next few days? You can take the rest of the week off, but you can't keep missing work, Charlie." Questioned Sue. "I mean, I know she's smarter than a normal child, but she still has to go to school. Or something. Jake, do you know how much Edward and Bella taught her?"

Jacob tried to remember back to the times he had seen Nessie's parents taking her aside to teach her. There were vague memories of multiplication tables and picking out countries on a globe.

"Well, she can definitely read. She reads anything she can get her hands on. I know she's done basic math, geography, a little history." He shrugged and felt a little guilty at not having delved into her education while they were in Brazil. "Well, she can't go to school. What if she starts growing again?"

Billy had been quiet all this time as he turned something over and over in his mind. Finally he spoke.

"Well…what if she goes to school on the rez? I mean, everyone there knows who she is, what she is. She's more advanced obviously, but she can fill in whatever gaps there are in her education with the basics. Maybe the teachers could give her extra work or something."

Charlie pondered this new option.

"On the rez?"

Sue thought about it and soon she was nodding her head.

"Actually, that makes a lot of sense. Plus, it's good for her to socialize with the other children and she wouldn't be cooped up in the house all day." Billy took it one step further.

"And she could stay with me after school until you get off work." Jacob was quickly warming to this idea.

"We wouldn't have to worry about her protection either. No one could get to her. Not that anyone has tried recently."

"Well, who do I talk to about this?"

"I'll talk to the council elders tomorrow. Hopefully, they'll go for it. They deeply respected Carlisle. He was a good man. I can't imagine they wouldn't want to help his grand-daughter in some way even if she is part vampire."

This reminded Jacob of something.

"By the way, did I ever mention that she's gifted?"

"What do you mean by gifted?" Charlie had prepared himself for the onslaught of information, but this was becoming more than he could handle by the minute.

"She can share her thoughts and feelings with you just by touching you."

"Is that a vampire thing?"

"Well, the vampire gifts were pretty much individual and seemed to be traits from their human life that were amplified when they were turned. We think she may have inherited that gift from her father."

"Fantastic." Charlie rolled his eyes at the reference to Edward once more.

Ever the mother bear, Sue couldn't help but to add, "We just have to remind her that she can't do it freely." Everyone nodded, but the weight of the day caught up with them and they were all lost in their own thoughts in silence.

"So, Jake, how long you gonna be on my couch for?"

"For as long as she needs me. I'll have the boys watch the house at night though. Every night. She'll always be protected."

Charlie's gratitude caught in his throat and he could barely voice his thanks.

"You've done more than enough for us. You know I consider you family, don't you?" Jake grinned at this admission.

"Always have."

Sue stood up slowly and stretched.

"Well, I think it's time I went home. Seth, turn off the TV. We're going home. Are you ready, Billy?"

"Yeah, I'm ready to hit the sack." Sue turned to Charlie.

"I'll take tomorrow off so I can go with you to get her some new clothes and to do a proper food shopping."

"You don't have to do that. You've already helped me so much."

"I want to. I'll be over in the morning."

"Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"Well, she's the new girl in town and we want her to fit in. I love ya, Charlie, but God only knows that you would pick out for a little girl to wear." She smirked in what Charlie found to be the most endearing manner.

They said their goodbyes and Jacob settled in on the couch. Charlie headed up the stairs. He fully intended to go to sleep, but he couldn't help checking in on his grand-daughter. He gently turned the doorknob and let himself into the room. The room that had not been occupied since last summer and was a painful reminder of what he lost every time he walked past it. The door had always remained shut.

But now, new life…unexpected life…had been brought to it. Charlie looked down at the sleeping figure that almost glowed in the moonlight. Auburn hair fanned out over the pillows and framed the delicate features reminiscent of the room's previous occupant.

He would never forget Bella, but in Nessie, he had been given a second chance. His chance at fatherhood had been stolen from him by Renee, by Bella and his own inability to be emotionally available. He had been hands off. Too dismissive of the things his daughter so enjoyed. Did he have to watch _every_ game? Did he have to fish _every_ weekend? It would not have killed him to have taken Bella to a play or a museum in Seattle or even have read a few books together. Maybe he could have taken her out to dinner more or rented a movie or even just plain spoken up. Instead, he left her to her own devices and had freely given her up.

He would not let that happen with Nessie. He owed that to Bella. This time, he would be the best father he could be. She wouldn't for one second feel unloved or uncared for. Nessie would always come first and if it was to the detriment of his other relationships, then so be it.

Satisfied that the little girl was sleeping soundly, Charlie went to his room and changed into his pajamas. He was emotionally and physically exhausted, but his mind was restless. He stayed awake late into the night thinking about the day's events, his mind running in circles.

Although he somehow knew Bella was gone and had been mourning her loss already, the pain returned to him once more fresh and raw. Before he knew it, he was sobbing as he clutched his pillow.

Soon, he heard his door creak open and looked up to find Nessie standing just inside the doorway. He quickly wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Sweetheart, what's the matter?"

"I can't sleep. Can I stay here with you?"

"Of course. C'mere." He moved to the side and pulled the covers back making room for her. She ran over and settled beside him. And then, just like every other child, she asked an innocent and honest question.

"Grandpa, why are you crying?"

Charlie didn't want to upset her by bringing up her mother and thus hesitated. However, the next words out of her mouth shocked him.

"It's okay to cry. Jacob told me that. Sometimes he misses his mommy like I do. He told me it's okay to cry and let it out. I think he's right because I always feel better afterwards."

Charlie reached out and brushed her cheek with the hint of a smile on his face.

"I think that's a very good idea." He started to move his hand away, but Nessie held it there. The next thing he knew, Charlie was overcome by intense feelings of love and wholeness. It was the most loved he had felt in years.

"What was that?" Asked Charlie as he slowly moved his hand away.

Nessie just shrugged.

"That's how much I love you."

The tears, this time joyful ones, started to fall again.

"I love you too, Angel."

They settled down to go to sleep, facing away from each other.

"I'm glad you're my grandpa." Whispered Nessie before she drifted off into dreamland.

Charlie had one of the best nights of sleep of his entire life and when he woke up early, he was raring to go. It was only 7AM, but he felt energized. He crept downstairs and saw that Jacob was still snoring up a storm. He chuckled to himself that these past few months were probably ones of uninterrupted sleep for Billy.

In the kitchen, Charlie set the coffee to brew and left a quick voicemail at the police station explaining that he was taking two personal days. He checked the fridge to find it rather empty. There was milk for coffee and cereal, but that's about it. He made a note to start watching the Food Network or buy a cookbook or something. He thanked his lucky stars for Sue and made a mental note to himself find a fitting manner in which to express his gratitude.

He tiptoed back into his bedroom hoping not to rouse the little girl and grabbed a change of clothes. After a quick shower, he went to get her clothing from the dryer. He haphazardly folded everything and left it on her bed which he had made. Charlie looked around the room. Up until now, it had been a shrine to his dead daughter, but it wasn't fair for Nessie to have to live in such sadness. Maybe today they could find some new things for it.

With newspaper in hand, Charlie settled down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. Jacob groggily stumbled into the kitchen and sat down.

"Hey, ya got anymore coffee?"

"For you, anything." Charlie rose and set about finding another mug.

"Charlie, there's something else you should know."

"Jacob, I only got one heart and yesterday it almost gave out."

"No, no, no. This isn't bad. Actually, it's good."

"It better be."

"Bella had given me several hundred thousand dollars to look after Nessie with."

"Come again?"

"Let's put it this way, when you can live forever, you can accumulate a lot of money over time. The Cullens were millionaires many, many times over. Anyway, there's plenty left of what she gave me and it's in a bank in Seattle." Charlie looked at him agape. "And I'm sure there's plenty more where that came from back at their mansion. I'm sure it's well hidden and all that, but if you need it, I'm sure we can find a way to access it."

"I would never steal from them."

"That's not what I'm saying. I mean, it does belong to her after all. She could probably live off the sale of one of the paintings they kept in the bathroom for the next hundred years. Having Nessie live with you is going to be expensive and Edward would have wanted you to have what you both needed. He would never want his daughter to have to go without. I'm sure they made arrangements or something for her. I'm not saying it's stealing, but you should just know what's what if you or her should ever need it. After all, the money that Bella gave me? I think it was just what she pulled out of the couch cushions."

Charlie knew he needed to be practical. He knew that what Jacob said was true. He knew Edward and the Cullens had money and it would come in handy for Nessie. But still, Charlie had his pride.

"Well, we'll see. Let's not touch the money in Seattle since she'll need it in the future. I have money saved up and can provide for my grandchild. She doesn't need to live extravagantly to have a happy childhood."

Jacob knew this was the most promising headway he could make. Perhaps he would take a ride over to the mansion and see what else he could find that could be deposited into her account. He knew that Edward would have made provisions for his daughter in the event that something might befall them leaving them unable to care for Nessie. He also wondered silently if Nessie would want to visit her grandparents' home and the cottage. There were probably keepsakes there. And…it would also make Jacob sad to see the mansion to fall into disrepair. He didn't exactly have Esme's touch, but perhaps he could keep things tidy and the way Nessie would have remembered it.

Soon, a little auburn-haired moppet was standing in the kitchen doorway rubbing her eyes.

"Morning."

Charlie greeted her with a hug and a kiss. "Good morning, Nessie. Have a seat and I'll get you some cereal."

She scrambled into one of the chairs and Charlie set about getting her breakfast. Jacob rubbed his hands together.

"So, Ness, are you ready to do some shopping?" She nodded her head while grinning and the doorbell rang. Jacob rose.

"I'll get it."

Charlie set the bowl down in front of Nessie and she began to eat. Jacob returned with Sue in tow.

"Look who I found loitering outside the house."

"Ha, ha. Very funny, Jake."

Charlie greeted Sue with a quick peck on the cheek. Jacob was not surprised, but it certainly made Nessie wonder. Her mother had told her that her grandpa and Sue were keeping company whatever that meant.

An hour later, they were in the car speeding along the highway. Sue had suggested taking Nessie to a shopping center beyond Port Angeles where there was a Target and an Old Navy. It would be best to keep away from places where they might run into any residents of Forks until they had figured out how they would explain that Charlie now had a grand-daughter.

They found a coat at Old Navy and two pairs of jeans. Target was where they really hit the jackpot. Sue picked out shirts, pants, skirts, socks, underwear, tights, pajamas, sneakers and even black patent leather mary janes! Charlie didn't understand how one pair of shoes could make someone so happy, but he was bursting with joy at seeing Nessie's excitement. Sue even found a cute dress for her. It wasn't a party dress and it wasn't pink, but Nessie loved it all the same.

Nessie reminded Sue that she promised they would get conditioner for her hair so it would grow quickly. In fact, they were able to find some cute hair accessories to tame her curls.

"Now I'm like a real girl!" Exclaimed Nessie. Sue laughed. She was enjoying herself as much as Nessie. Leah was always a bit of a tomboy so she never had the opportunity to pick out frilly, girly things for her.

When they neared the housewares department, Charlie made his move.

"Hey Ness, how about we take a look and see if there's anything you want to add to your room? Maybe a new comforter or some pictures for the wall?" However this had the opposite effect that Charlie had hoped for. Her face fell and her happiness was clouded with worry.

"But that's my mommy's room and it has all her things in it."

"Well, it's your room too now. You can decorate it anyway you want. Or not. It's up to you, but if there's anything you see here that you might want, don't hesitate to ask." Nessie thought this over.

"Can I…I saw a picture of my mommy and daddy in the living room that I've never seen before. Can I get a frame for it and put it in my room?"

"Which picture are you talking about?"

"The one where Daddy is wearing a tuxedo and Mommy is wearing a blue dress."

"Oh, you're talking about the prom picture?"

"What's a prom?" Sue explained it to Nessie who was delighted at the idea of a grown-up, dress-up party and vowed to attend as many as possible when she grew up. Sue helped Nessie pick out a silver frame and soon they were back on the road.

Next, they dropped Nessie and Jacob off at Charlie's house and Sue took Charlie to the Safeway. He pushed the cart while she rattled off instructions.

"Now, I know you would rather eat pizza and fish every night, but Nessie is going to have to eat some healthy things too."

"I know. I was thinking about that this morning. I'd like to learn how to cook for her." This stopped Sue in her tracks and she could barely contain a giggle.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. I mean, how hard can it be? If you follow the instructions in a cookbook, the food should turn out okay." For a quick moment, Charlie started to feel unsure. "Shouldn't it?"

"Well, there are sometimes outside factors that may make what you are cooking less than perfect, but I think if you start off small, you could very well be the next Mario Batali."

"Who?"

"All in good time, Charlie, all in good time."

Charlie liked this. He liked the mundane tasks. Because they were with Sue. She knew what she was doing and shared her knowledge instead of laughing him off as just another "guy" fumbling through. It was a form of intimacy to him. Maybe he was reaching, but it just felt good to him.

Sue loaded up the cart with the basics: bread, milk, cereal, cold cuts, chicken, beef, potatoes, pasta, tuna fish, rice, peanut butter and jelly. She threw in some boxes of macaroni and cheese and instructed Charlie to add some broccoli to it so it was slightly healthier. She was starting him off slow and would teach him along the way. It was in the produce department where he really was out of his element. Sue made a mental note to find a beginner's cookbook on Amazon for him.

She liked this new Charlie she was being introduced to. He had always been protective and a caregiver of sorts, but in the past twenty-four hours, his heart had been smashed open, not into pieces. And with that thought, she added a carton of rocky road ice cream to the cart, Charlie's favorite.

That night after Sue had showed Charlie the proper way to grill chicken and steam vegetables, the four of them enjoyed ice cream sundaes in the living room while American Idol played in the background. Charlie had never seen it before, but Nessie seemed to enjoy it.

Later, as Nessie lay in bed in her new pajamas, she looked over at the framed picture of her parents on the bedside table. They looked so happy together. When she grew up, she hoped to have a husband who loved her as much as her daddy loved her mommy.

Somewhere…someway…she believed they were together watching over her.

_**A/N: Thank you for taking the time to read and review. As you know, real life has a way of getting in the way of your best intentions. I hope to be able to update much more frequently. **_


	3. Chapter 3

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Stephenie Meyer owns it all.**_

CHAPTER 3

For her entire life, Renesmee had never actually been physically on her own. A loved one had always been nearby to protect her and explain things to her. Things that she couldn't learn from books.

However, today was different. Grandpa Charlie woke her up early and Sue helped her get dressed. Downstairs, Grandpa Charlie had made her scrambled eggs and oatmeal with blueberries. Soon they were on their way to La Push. Today was her very first day of school.

Billy Black had spoken to the council of elders on Charlie's behalf about allowing Renesmee to attend school on the reservation. It was not an instant yes. There were several members who argued that the Cullens were their sworn enemies. However, Billy appealed to them that she was only half a Cullen. She was also half a Swan. Charlie Swan had not only been a lifelong friend to him, but a trusted and respected friend of the Quileutes. And so the council voted to allow his grand-daughter to enroll at their elementary school.

Charlie sat Renesmee down and gave her the good news. Renesmee had always wanted to go to school, but the reality of it was much different. She would be on her own and her special gifts might not be appreciated. Charlie explained that she would have to be on her best behavior and that she would have to obey her teacher. Renesmee promised that she would be the best student ever.

Charlie worried about how she would adjust. While everyone thought that it would be a good idea for her to be around other children, he worried about how her advanced mental prowess would affect her everyday interactions. Would she cause problems because everyone would be seemingly lagging behind her? Would she start crying?

In fact, Renesmee understood that great pains were taken to allow her this opportunity. She was well behaved as Charlie filled out some paperwork and spoke to the principal. Almost to the point of being subdued. However, inside, Renesmee was eagerly taking in everything. It was just like on television.

Now the principal escorted her and Charlie to one of the kindergarten classes. Before they went in, Charlie knelt down in front of his grand-daughter.

"Now, sweetheart, it's time for me to go. Don't be nervous. School is going to be a lot of fun and you're going to learn a lot, okay?"

Renesmee nodded her head vigorously. She didn't want to disappoint her grandpa.

"So be a good girl and listen to your teacher, okay? I hear Mrs. Whiteheart is a real nice lady."

Mrs. Whiteheart was indeed a lovely woman. She had been a kindergarten teacher for twenty-five years and was famous for her calming presence and ability to make even the most dreaded lessons fun. She had been fully apprised of the situation and it was a testament to her character that she accepted the half vampire child into her classroom when not all of the parents were happy about it.

Precautions had been taken. Jacob had taken her hunting on both Saturday and Sunday. A huge list of emergency phone numbers had been compiled. Should Renesmee feel a burn in her throat or her control slipping, she was instructed to tell the teacher right away and either Jacob, Seth or Sam would take her hunting. It was also reiterated to her over and over again that she must be gentle with the other children. Especially with her gift. And, of course, to always be polite and considerate. Her Grandma Esme had taught her to always treat people as she would want to be treated. But she would have to be three times nicer to fight pre-conceived notions.

Renesmee hugged her grandfather goodbye and he placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head. He would pick her up after work. She would stay at Billy's house after school until then.

But right now, she was standing in the doorway of the kindergarten classroom unsure of what to do next. The other children were all seated in groups at round tables doing a project.

However, Mrs. Whiteheart was watching as Renesmee stood peeking in at the other children. She was a woman of average height with a soft, slim figure covered in layers of earth-toned colors. Her black hair was woven with a few gray hairs and she warm eyes. The kind woman made her way over to the little girl and bent down so they were on the same level.

"Hello. You must be Renesmee."

Renesmee nodded, but didn't say anything. As courageous as she was, she was still a little bit afraid.

"Well, I'm so glad you could come today. I'm your teacher, Mrs. Whiteheart. Won't you join us?" Mrs. Whiteheart held out her hand in invitation. Renesmee took it in a show of trust and let herself be led to the front of the classroom. Mrs. Whiteheart cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"Class, I'd like your attention please." Renesmee angled herself slightly behind the teacher who still held her hand. She wished for a moment that she had not cut her hair so that she could have hid behind it.

"We have a new student joining us. Her name is Renesmee. I would like you all to give her a warm welcome. So altogether now…"

"Hello Renesmee." said the class in unison.

"Hello." answered Renesmee, her voice squeaking.

Mrs. Whiteheart took over once more and led Renesmee over to the coat closet.

"Here, let's hang up your jacket. I've already put your name on one of the hooks."

Renesmee set down her new backpack and took off her jacket. She hung it on the hook and picked up her backpack. Then Mrs. Whiteheart led her over to a series of shelves.

"Here, I have a cubby ready for you too. You can put your backpack here during the day. You will need a smock for arts and crafts, but I'll send a note home to your grandfather about that."

Renesmee removed her pencil case from her bag and deposited it into the cubby marked "Renesmee C.". She then followed Mrs. Whiteheart as she walked over to a table where three other children were sitting engrossed in a project that involved cutting and pasting construction paper. The teacher put her hands on Renesmee's shoulders and cleared her throat. The two girls and the boy seated at the table looked up and stopped what they were doing.

"Renesmee, I'd like to introduce you to your table partners. You'll be sitting with Samantha, Callie & Teddy."

Renesmee gave a shy smile to her classmates and a quick downward nod of her head with a shyness reminiscent of her mother. She was excited to go to school like a normal child, but was very nervous about what the other children might be like. She quickly scanned the other kids and tried to gather some information about them. Samantha had stick straight, shiny hair that hung down to her waist. Her eyes were dark and turned upward at the edges. She was dressed all in pink. Callie also had dark hair and eyes, but she also had bangs that stuck out everywhere and long, thick braids. She was definitely a tomboy who seemed to be wearing her older brother's hand-me-downs. Teddy could be considered the runt of the bunch. He was the smallest boy in class and was all skin and bones. Plus he wore glasses that looked several sizes too big for his face that he was constantly pushing up. His head was shorn close to his head.

Mrs. Whiteheart pulled out the remaining chair at the table and motioned to Renesmee to sit down. She handed the little girl some green construction paper and a pair of safety scissors.

"Renesmee, we're making decorations for St. Patrick's Day today so feel free to be as creative as you want." The teacher motioned to the center of the table where there was paste, glitter, tissue paper and some round gold-colored stickers. Now everyone, please make Renesmee feel welcome." She then left and went to check on the progress of the children at the other tables.

Renesmee looked at what the other children were doing, but couldn't seem to make heads or tails of it mainly because she wasn't sure what the day represented. This was exactly one of the reasons that she was being sent to school even though her intellect was beyond her peers.

"What's St. Patrick's Day?" she asked quietly.

"You don't know what St. Patrick's Day is?" asked Samantha quite taken aback. She reminded Renesmee a little bit of Aunt Rose. Renesmee responded by shaking her head.

Callie was diligently cutting out a hat for the leprechaun she was making.

"It's when St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland." she added nonchalantly.

"And there's a rainbow with a pot of gold at the end. That's because the leprechauns hide their gold there!" interjected Teddy. Renesmee thought about this. It didn't make any sense.

"Well the leprechauns must not be very smart if everyone knows where they hide their gold." Callie laughed, but Samantha wrinkled her nose and flicked her hair.

"Yeah, but rainbows like never happen and they're really hard to find."

"Oh." Renesmee didn't know that.

"Are you Irish?" asked Teddy.

Renesmee felt like she was in over her head. This kindergarten business was stumping her at every turn.

"I…I don't know."

"You might be. You have red hair." Teddy was sure he had solved this mystery.

Renesmee had a long list of questions to ask Grandpa Charlie tonight at dinner.

"I think it's pretty." said Callie.

"Thank you."

Renesmee liked Callie and Teddy. She was a little afraid of Samantha. However, when lunch time came, she was the one to invite Renesmee to sit with them at their table in the lunchroom. Renesmee was relieved to discover that her packed lunch was similar to everyone else's. She had enough to worry about when it came to being different. There was great comfort to be found in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, an apple, a juicebox and a few chocolate chip cookies. She also found a note from her grandpa telling her that he loved her. She quickly put that in her pocket to read again later.

After lunch, the children put their jackets and gloves on and went outside for recess. Renesmee followed her new friends and began to jump rope with them. She was beginning to enjoy herself in this lighter moment. Once she got a hand of the rhythm, it was really fun. It was another new discovery she had made today.

However, there was a bit of a black cloud over recess. Out of the corner of her eye, Renesmee noticed that some of the children, particularly a group of boys, stared at her intently. Now she had been warned that people would be curious about her, but this was somehow different. Sinister even. Maybe by tomorrow she would be old news.

At the end of the day, Renesmee stood in the front of the school all bundled up with her backpack full of notices for Grandpa Charlie and a homework assignment. Mrs. Whiteheart was kind enough to help her gather her things at the end of a long day for the little girl.

Her teacher spent a lot of time with her today trying to gauge Renesmee's academic level. She was able to identify her letters and numbers; she read on a higher level and did well with basic arithmetic flashcards. She far surpassed her classmates. It was obvious that her parents had taken pains to educate her in the short time she was alive.

Yet she was still given the same homework as the other children to practice writing her letters and a coloring assignment. Mrs. Whiteheart decided to give Renesmee a little something extra to keep her stimulated. So, she brought her over to one of the bookshelves and selected a book with a red spine.

"Now, Renesmee, I know you are a little bit more advanced than the other students and I don't want you to get bored. So I was thinking that perhaps you might enjoy doing some reading on your own to start with."

Renesmee enthusiastically nodded her head excited at the prospect. She _loved_ books, but with all that had gone on over the last few months she really did not have an opportunity to do so.

"This is a book called _The Boxcar Children_ that I read to the class earlier this year. I thought that you could read it on your own and then we could discuss it. Would you like that?"

"Yes, please! I love to read."

"I'm so glad to hear that. Read this at your own pace and let me know when you finish. And then we can add to your work as we go along."

"Yes, ma'am."

Mrs. Whiteheart gave her the book which was now securely packed into Renesmee's backpack. Together, the two stood together with the rest of the children in the front of the school to wait for their parents to fetch them. Jacob strode up to the front of the school and waved to Renesmee. His pleasantry was returned with a look of elation and relief.

"Mrs. Whiteheart! Jakey's here!" Renesmee pointed out excitedly.

"I know. He used to be one of my students."

"He was?"

"One of the sweetest, but also one of the naughtiest."

"Ha! Ha! I'm gonna tell!"

"Tell on who?" said Jacob as he walked up to them.

"Jacob, I'm afraid I was indiscreet and revealed tawdry past as a kindergarten ne'er-do-well." admitted Mrs. Whiteheart. Jacob tousled Renesmee's hair and laughed.

"You're too late, kid. My dad already knows." Then he turned to his former teacher. "Thanks again for…um…everything."

The kind woman gave him a soft smile not wanting to alarm Renesmee that her presence had caused problems.

"Well, we'd better get going. Bye Mrs. Whiteheart." Jacob took Renesmee's hand.

"See you tomorrow. Renesmee, I so enjoyed having you in my class. I'll see you tomorrow." Renesmee waved goodbye and her heart felt lighter. She had made it through her very first day of school without any mishaps and she was already making friends.

Jacob walked Renesmee over to Billy's house which wasn't very far from the school. Billy had milk and cookies waiting for her. She told Billy about her first day and before they knew it, Charlie was knocking on the door to take his grand-daughter home.

The night before, Charlie and Renesmee had decided that they would have meat loaf and mashed potatoes for supper. So when they reached the house, Charlie changed out of his uniform into street clothes and put on an apron. He found an old t-shirt and tied it around Renesmee as a makeshift apron. He then pulled a chair up to the counter for Renesmee.

Charlie gave her the cookbook with the bookmarked recipe. Renesmee read out the ingredients for Charlie to gather. He set the potatoes to boil and then set about assembling the meatloaf. He let Renesmee smoosh the ground meat together and when it was time to mash the potatoes, she was in charge of getting out all the lumps.

Finally, it was time to taste the final product. They had followed the directions exactly. Renesmee had made sure of that. However, they were pleasantly surprised that not only was it edible, but it was delicious.

"Mmm! Grandpa, it's good!" said Renesmee with a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Well, you made them." Charlie breathed a sigh of relief that no one would be rushed to the emergency room with food poisoning. Soon, he was gathering up the plates to wash the dishes and Renesmee was setting herself up at the kitchen table to start her homework. She easily printed her name at the top of the page and very quickly finished copying the letters and numbers. Then she ran to get her crayons from the desk in her room. Once more, she settled down and contemplated the best color scheme to use for this project.

"Grandpa?"

"Yes, sweetheart?" Charlie was fighting with the residue on the baking dish left over from the meatloaf,

"Am I Irish?"

"Irish? What made you think of that?"

"Well, today at school, we made decorations for St. Patrick's Day. Teddy said I might be Irish since I have red hair."

"It takes more than just red hair to be Irish. Now let's see, I'm a quarter Irish and then all English. Your Grandma Renee is English, Irish and a little German. The red hair comes from your father's side, but I don't know if he was Irish. He could've been. So, you're a little more than a quarter Irish that we know of."

Renesmee nodded, thankful to have a better idea of who she was and where she came from.

"Now who is this Teddy? Do you have a boyfriend already?" Charlie teased.

"No! He's not my boyfriend!" she protested.

"Are you sure? Maybe I'll haul him down to the station and interrogate him." Charlie threatened playfully.

Renesmee blushed just like her mother.

"He's one of my table partners, Grandpa! He's not my boyfriend!"

"Well, okay then. No dating til you're thirty though."

She once more became engrossed in her work, wanting to get it just right. She easily stayed inside the lines and made sure that she colored in one direction.

"So," Charlie started. "Tell me about your day. Was everyone nice to you?"

"Yes, I love my teacher. She's so nice. I sit with Samantha, Callie and Teddy. Samantha is a little bit scary, but I like them all."

"Good, good." Charlie was relieved. He had visions of pitchforks and torches running through his head. The doorbell rang and Charlie went to answer it. Sue had mentioned earlier that she would stop by after dinner.

"Hey there!" said a grinning Charlie when he opened the door and saw Sue smiling back at him.

"Hey there, yourself!" A quick kiss was stolen before returning to the kitchen.

"Hi Nessie!" Renesmee jumped out of her chair and ran into Sue's arms. Sue kissed the top of the little girl's head.

"How was your first day of school, sweetheart?" Renesmee pulled back to look at Sue and smiled.

"It was good."

"Really? Did you have fun too?" Renesmee nodded enthusiastically.

"I am so proud of you! You were so brave today!"

"Yes, she was." said Charlie as he ruffled Renesmee's hair. "You finished with your homework?"

"Um, yeah, but Mrs. Whiteheart gave me a book to read just for me."

"Well, why don't you go read it in the living room then?" Renesmee obeyed her grandfather and scurried off to start her book.

"So…" said Sue.

"So…" echoed Charlie.

"How do you think she really did?"

Charlie leaned back against the kitchen counter and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, she said she likes her teacher and she made a few friends. She seems okay. She hasn't said anything alarming."

"That all sounds good, but you seem like you're leaving something out." Charlie swallowed and cringed.

"Well, tomorrow, Jake is taking her hunting after school." She raised her eyebrows in understanding.

"Ah. Well, think of it this way. You eat animal meat so it's not that different,"

"I know, but to think of her drinking blood. It's just a substitute for something else. It's just…I don't know." Sue put her hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"I know this is difficult, but she needs it to survive. She can't help what she is. She's still your grand-daughter."

"I know! I know…I just want her to live as normal a life as possible." Charlie just stared down at the floor.

"She will. She is. She's going to school and making friends. She seems to be eager to adjust."

"It just seems too unnatural and wrong. I just…I just love her so much. I don't want to make any mistakes with her. She's already been through so much. I'll come to terms with it, but it's still real hard." Sue moved in closer and wrapped her arms around Charlie.

"Just be there for her and let her be who she is. You're doing a wonderful job."

Charlie was grateful for the hug. No matter how strong he tried to be, there were certain times that his humanity chipped away at his steely façade. He needed human contact. He needed to be propped up in these rare moments when he needed restoration; he needed relief. The chief stumbled. He didn't fall down, but he faltered. Luckily, Sue was there.

"Why don't you sit down and relax? I'll make sure she gets a bath before bed."

Thanks, Sue." She patted him on the shoulder and then headed into the living room.

"Sweetheart?" Renesmee looked up. "Why don't we get you ready for bed?"

Renesmee marked her page in the book and put it in her backpack. Sue made sure that she had put all of her homework in the bad in preparation for the next day. Charlie had settled at the kitchen table to sort through the paperwork that Mrs. Whiteheart had sent home. He found an old shirt for Renesmee to use as a smock for art class. He made her lunch and wrote another note for her to find.

Upstairs, Renesmee was taking her nightly bath. She seemed more subdued than earlier in the evening.

"What's wrong, Nessie?" asked Sue as she lathered the girl's hair. Renesmee wasn't quite sure what to say without hurting anyone's feelings. She took a moment to answer.

"Well…does Grandpa Charlie think I'm disgusting?"

"What? Whatever makes you say that?" She quickly rinsed Renesmee's hair free of shampoo and started to gently apply conditioner.

"I heard him talking about Jakey taking me hunting and drinking blood." She looked down, embarrassed and ashamed. "He sounded like he thought it was disgusting."

Sue internally cursed herself. Renesmee being half vampire was always present in their minds. However, they had neglected to remember that she shared other genetic traits other than a thirst for blood. Like super vampire hearing. Maybe not quite as sharp as Edward's, but far superior to human ears. Sue thought she and Charlie were speaking in hushed tones, but apparently not hushed enough.

"Nessie, your grandpa loves you unconditionally. That means he loves every part of you. The human, the vampire and the person you are inside. He loves Nessie no matter what. But you have to understand it's a little…well, it's not what humans are used to. You and your grandpa are still getting to know each other, but the more he gets to know you, the more he loves you."

"I love him too. A lot. I'm just afraid that he'll find something he doesn't like about me and he'll send me away. Then where would I go?" Little did she know that her words embodied her father's own fears about her mother's reaction to his perceived monstrous nature.

"Oh, Nessie. The last thing your grandfather would ever do is send you away. You are home forever and always. You will never have to doubt that." Sue would have to have a talk with Charlie after Renesmee was fast asleep.

Renesmee had become an expert at controlling her thoughts shared by touch, but she took hold of Sue's hand and transferred a tremendous amount of genuine relief. Sue was not in the practice of raising such a special child, but she was glad her words had brought some comfort.

"Now, let's get you out of that water before you start to look like a prune." She wrapped Renesmee in a towel and began the nightly process of getting her ready for bed.

A heartfelt hug and goodnight kiss from Grandpa Charlie was all it took to set her world right again.

With a renewed sense of security, Renesmee took on school as a blessing and applied herself with fervor. She followed the rules, excelled at her work, made new friends beyond her table and, much to her delight, received the most gold stars in the class. She enjoyed the structure and camaraderie of school. She delighted in her afternoon visits with Billy and Jacob. Billy always had milk and cookies waiting for her. Every other day, Jacob would take her hunting. Renesmee felt energized. Despite her thirst, she felt like a real girl.

Sue had a discussion with Charlie about Renesmee's fears. He was beside himself with worry that he had upset his grand-daughter and had caused even a moment's doubt of his love. So, soon afterwards, Charlie outfitted her with a life jacket and took her out fishing with him. It was bittersweet because Renesmee seemed to enjoy fishing unlike Bella.

"Lookit, Grandpa! I got one!" And sure enough, Renesmee had been blessed with beginner's luck. She was able to reel in her trout by herself and held it up with pride.

"You're a natural! Would you look at that! There's no question about it! You've got those Swan fishing genes!"

"Really? I do?" Renesmee squealed in amazement. Charlie took over and removed the fish from the hook, depositing it into the bucket to take home.

"You're one of us, kid. I guess that means I'll keep ya." He put more bait on her hook and she started the waiting process again. Charlie thought that this was a good moment to reassure her of a few things.

"I guess this waiting around isn't as exciting as going hunting, is it?" Renesmee just shrugged. She didn't want to upset her grandfather by talking about things that might make him uncomfortable.

"You know, sweetheart, it's okay to talk about it. It's a part of who you are and that means it's just another part of you to love. You need to eat to be healthy and that's all I really want for you, okay?"

Renesmee understood what he was trying to say and nodded. That was the end of that topic.

And so life carried on as usual. Renesmee was just discovering life and Charlie was rediscovering it. Every Sunday morning, they sat at the kitchen table going over cookbooks deciding on the menu for the week. They made a shopping list and went grocery shopping. Charlie pushed the carriage while Renesmee read off what they needed to buy. While they pretty much stuck to what they knew, every week they tried out a new dish. This week, it was tacos. While they cooked together, Charlie would put on the classic rock station and Renesmee would get an education of another kind.

The refrigerator doorbecame cluttered with Renesmee's artwork and highly praised, gold-starred assignments. While Charlie would watch Sports Center, Renesmee would read the books Mrs. Whiteheart gave her. Several times, Sue joined them. Sometimes Seth and Leah did too. Seth joked and played with her while Leah kept her at arm's length. She did so without sneering because she all too well knew the pain of losing a loved one. She felt a kinship with the little girl even if she didn't show it. What she didn't do or say was just as important as what she did. There were nights when she babysat Renesmee so Charlie and Sue could spend time together. Leah brought the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies with her one night. She showed Renesmee what to do and even though Leah wasn't demonstrative with her feelings, Renesmee felt very comfortable around her.

Everything was going swimmingly. Except at night after she said her prayers and was tucked into bed, Renesmee thought about her mother and father. She wondered if they saw her. If they still remembered her. She looked at their smiling faces in the picture by her bed. She pretended that they were smiling at her. She smiled back.

There was one aspect of her new life that took away from Renesmee's contentment. The playground. Oh, it was great fun. Except for the stares. Except for the leering group of boys who seemed to shadow her while she, Samantha, Callie and Teddy played. It was the only time she felt uncomfortable or threatened. They whispered things. Nasty, mean-spirited things fell from their lips taunting her. They knew she could hear them. Someone had told them that.

"Billy?"

"Yes, honey?" They were watching _General Hospital_, Billy's guilty pleasure. It was a commercial break.

"What's a half breed?" Billy's eye's widened and he muted the television.

"What?"

"A half breed?" She was sitting by his feet playing with the rug.

"Where ever did you hear that?"

"That's what some of the boys on the playground called me."

"Who?" Billy sat up straighter in his chair.

"Some of the older boys. First and second graders. I don't know their names."

Having Renesmee go to school on the rez was proving to be a very good idea indeed. However, there were elements of the tribe that were not comfortable with Renesmee's presence. Old habits and prejudices die hard. It was expected and understood, but she had shown that she was very well-controlled. This was the only fly in the ointment. He would have to have a word with a few people at the next council meeting. They were spreading their poison to their children.

"Nessie, that's not a phrase that should be repeated. Ever. Those boys don't know what they're saying and what they're saying is nonsense that should be ignored. Do you understand?"

"Yes." She was solemn in her response.

"Just ignore them."

Renesmee nodded. He had confirmed her fears that the words were bad ones. She would need to be on her guard. It was a shame really because she had found school to be such a place of safety and freedom.

Billy would have to have a word with Charlie about all this. He regretted having to add to his friend's stress. Charlie was working late so Jacob drove Billy and Renesmee back to Charlie's. They stopped on the way to pick up some pizzas knowing Charlie would be exhausted. Charlie was in fact barely able to move. There had been a bank robbery. They had secured the perimeter and were able to apprehend the thief, but the stress had done him in.

The foursome were eating in front of the television when all of the sudden both Jacob and Renesmee looked at the front door. Billy and Charlie took notice immediately.

"What is it?" demanded Charlie. Jacob slowly rose from his seat and held up his hand.

"Stay here."

Charlie scooped up Renesmee and stood by Billy. Jacob went to the window and peeked out from behind the curtain. He exhaled the breath he had been holding in. He walked to the front door and opened it.

Renesmee squirmed in her grandfather's arms and her strength took him by surprise. She almost fell to the ground as she broke free. She ran to the door with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Aunt Alice! Aunt Alice!"

Renesmee ran into Alice's arms and was engulfed. Alice spun around as she held on to her niece like a life raft.

_**A/N Okay, I cannot believe it's been so long since I updated this. 2010 was not a good year for me. In fact, everyone I know had a pretty crappy year. Maybe you did too. I didn't get to do much fic writing. However, I'm hoping to change that. Here's hoping that 2011 is the best year ever for all of us!**_

_**Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read my story. It is much appreciated. **_


	4. Chapter 4

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Stephenie Meyer owns it all.**_

CHAPTER FOUR

Good cannot exist without the presence of evil. No one was more aware of this than Alice Cullen.

For all the good she saw in her visions, she also saw how quickly and how easily the good could turn to bad. There was good in copious amounts followed closely by evil in the same proportion. Yet it seemed more and more like the evil was too much for anyone to bear and the good was never quite enough.

Lately, Alice was often waiting for the other shoe to drop. She was seemingly no longer the captain of her own ship. The power that propelled her forth by showing her many paths to take was no longer her companion. Someone else was now determining her path. But due to blind spots, Alice had no idea what that road might be. It had been ripped from her.

The only thing she knew was that things were bad. It wasn't a vision sent by metaphysical forces or a quirk of genetics.

She felt it in her bones. Like all definite truths, she felt it on a primal level. So did Jasper.

They couldn't determine exactly when they lost their family, but they both felt shifts on a cellular level. Everyone and everything they loved were gone. The only thing they knew was that it had surely been at the hands of the Volturi.

It had been many months that they had been drifting and trying to cope with a loss of such enormity. They wandered through South America and beyond, attempting to get a foothold on something solid once more. Sure footing was something that eluded them.

Where would they go? Who would they become? Fake identities were easy to come by. But what about their other identities? Son, daughter, sister, brother? Those were gone forever now.

Every day, they mourned. They had all the time in the world to forge a new life somehow. It didn't seem right or possible now. Alice went from one extreme to another. She either sobbed or was catatonic. It was more than Jasper could bear. The light of his life had been extinguished. There would be swift and fatal retribution for that if he ever got the chance. His emotions once ignited would be transformed into a searing scythe that would ensure his fury would be the last thing Aro, Caius and Marcus would ever be witness to. Like Alice, he mourned the loss of his family. He felt everything. Just like he always did.

An unexpected side effect of all this was that he was becoming stronger. He was resolute in his conviction that he would not take human life. He wouldn't be like those butchers…the Volturi. He would never be like them.

Most of all, he wanted to honor the memory of the man who had truly instilled in him what a family truly was.

For so long, Alice had always been strong for him, but now he needed to be strong for her.

Jasper was getting tired of traveling. He had grown accustomed to having a home. It seemed wrong not to. He could also tell that his wife did as well. Jasper also sensed that deep in the recesses of Alice's soul that she also felt a glimmer of hope.

She hoped that she would still be able to call herself an aunt.

At first, Alice wasn't sure if Jasper's suggestion to return to Forks was the right thing to do. After all, wouldn't that painfully remind them of all that they had lost? Alice couldn't imagine entering the Cullen mansion and not seeing the faces of her loved ones and hearing their voices. What would it be like to enter a void like that? The silence would be deafening.

But what if Renesmee was there in Forks? What if she needed them? Alice had hoped that Bella understood her bizarre instructions regarding J. Jenks, but even if she did, the Volturi could still have captured her niece. Yet just like she knew her family was gone, she knew there was a possibility that Renesmee was alive. Slim although it might be.

However, it was Jasper who had to convince her they must go back to Forks to see firsthand if she had made it back. It was the only home Renesmee had known and the only place where they would be able to find Charlie Swan. Charlie in Forks was the only constant in their lives and Alice hoped it would still be true.

There was also the notion that perhaps going "home" would provide closure and give them the strength to have roots once more. It would also give them the chance to provide Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Edward and Bella with the memorial they truly deserved.

They had been to Rio de Janeiro to look for Renesmee on a cloudy hunch Alice received one day, but it turned out to be wishful thinking. They couldn't find their niece anywhere. Their aimless wandering only made them feel more adrift.

And so, it was on this one last hope that they had built a dream on. As they made their final descent into Seattle, Alice took Jasper's hand into her own and held it tightly. They had no idea who or what they would find. Even if Charlie Swan was the only person left standing in Forks, it would be more than they could hope for. Charlie was family in a round about way. He had been a second "dad".

During the summer after the battle with James, Alice was a constant presence in the Swan household. Every morning, she helped Bella get dressed and fed. Every night, she helped Bella shower and get ready for bed. Alice was happy to help, but, secretly, Alice's favorite part was the middle of the day when Charlie would come home for lunch. He was really just checking in on Bella. A homemade lunch was just a bonus.

Alice had no idea what she was doing, but Bella sat at the kitchen table and gave her direction as how to make lunch for Charlie. Bella didn't need Alice to do it all, but Alice insisted. She loved the domesticity of it all. She loved knowing that she could assemble a sandwich or make a bowl of pasta. It wasn't that she couldn't be domestic at her own house. There was always laundry to be done and shelves that needed dusting, but anyone could do that. Preparing food gave her a small link to humanity. When she was at a bookstore, she would sit herself down on the floor and flip through the cookbooks making note of recipes she thought Charlie and Bella might like. Bella giggled slightly at the sight of Alice lugging a pile of cookbooks through the front door. However, she appreciated that Alice felt she was worth the effort and honored that her friend felt comfortable enough to try to be who might have been eighty years ago.

Maybe Mary Alice Brandon loved to cook. Maybe she preferred to bake. Did she have a sweet tooth? Maybe one day she would remember. But for now, Alice Cullen just reveled in being of use. She delighted in Charlie's appreciation for her blossoming culinary talents. By the end of the summer, she had mastered pasta bolognese and chocolate cake.

Cooking wasn't the only time she felt comfortable. Sometimes, Charlie would come home early and walk in on the girls halfway through watching a romantic comedy. Charlie would sit down with them making fun of the premise.

"I hope you girls aren't buying into all this fairytale hogwash. Love isn't all hearts and flowers you know."

Bella and Alice just snickered as Charlie became engrossed in their chick flicks right along with them. He was like a real dad to Alice. Every night before she left, Charlie made sure she got into her car safely and always urged her to drive carefully. As brief as it was before that fateful September, Alice really felt like she was part of the family.

She would do just about anything to get it back.

Jasper rented a car while Alice looked on. Even with that vampire brain of hers, she was too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice what was going on around her. She leaned against the counter as Jasper filled out the paperwork and wondered what they might find. She had hoped that Renesmee had gotten away. She had no such hope for the rest of her family.

Soon, they were speeding along the highway towards Forks. Jasper was behind the wheel. He reached out and took Alice's hand into his own. They both stared straight ahead at the stretch of road in front of them.

"I love you, Alice."

"I love you too."

"No matter what happens…no matter what we might find…we have to be strong. As hard as that may be. That's what Cullens do."

Alice had always been Jasper's rock, his strength, his cheerleader. Yet, now, she could barely speak as her throat was thick with emotion.

"We'll get through this. Together."

She could only nod at his attempts to reassure her.

An hour later, they passed the sign that welcomed visitors to Forks. Like so many others before it, it was the beginnings of a dark, misty night. Eventually, they found themselves headed down the familiar main road that led them to their home. The turn-off was now even more hidden as Esme was no longer there to trim the overgrowth.

In fact, the entire length of the driveway was covered. So much so that Alice took the wheel and Jasper ran along the edges clearing the vines and weeds that had taken over so the car could pass.

Soon, they stood together in the front of the mansion. The chilled breeze was the only sound for miles. Alice looked up at the home which held such happy memories but could now only be described as a tomb. Jasper put his arm around his wife and kissed the top of her head while tears ghosted down her cheeks. Finally, she turned into his embrace for a kind of warmth only they knew.

After many false starts, they eventually stepped into the catacombs of their happiness that had once shone so brightly. They didn't dare turn on the lights for fear the ghosts of their loved ones would scatter and be gone forever. For now, they moved through the dust and the dark taking stock of what had been left.

For hours, they wandered around looking at all the memories. Soon they found their old room and lay down together on their bed. Jasper passed on to Alice all the love in his heart hoping that it would be enough to spark her back to life. Truth be told, he was just as downtrodden. He missed his brothers. Emmett especially. They had bonded from the start. He had been close to Edward too, but Emmett had a different type of camaraderie with Jasper. They were older when they had been changed. For all his reservations due to his interminable hunger, he felt free with Emmett. They rough-housed, they were thrill seekers and could appreciate their more primal instincts.

But he couldn't wallow. Not now. Not when Alice needed him. In the fifty-plus years they had been together, he had never seen her like this. She was the one who had always kept him from the darker corners of his mind. She shined her light into his soul and kept him afloat. But things were different now. He would need to be the light now so she could find the strength to go on.

"You know, darlin', you've still got clothes in that closet with the tags still on'em."

"So?"

"Well, if we're gonna go see Nessie and Charlie, you want to look nice, don't you?"

She rolled over facing away form her husband.

"Somehow I doubt Charlie would give a damn what I look like. And Nessie…"

"You're right. He'd be just so happy to see us. Well, you really."

Alice didn't move. She couldn't.

"Alice?"

Nothing.

"Alice…"

Jasper was met with silence and one inert pixie.

"Well, if you're not gonna do it for Charlie, then at least do it for Nessie. No matter what, that little one is gonna need her Aunt Alice more than ever now and I reckon you need her just as much. Now I'm fixin' to take a good soak and get all this grime from the trip off. I'm hoping you'll join me."

"Jasper…what if…what if she doesn't remember me…the way I remember her? If she's even there. I'm putting a lot of faith into an impossible hope."

"It's not impossible. Anyway, you two were inseparable. Nothing brought a smile to Nessie's face like seeing her auntie. Love like that doesn't fade. I should know."

And with that, a wife turned back to her husband with a grateful hint of a smile.

"I love you, Jasper."

"I love you too, darlin'." He hoisted himself up off the bed and took Alice with him in his arms.

"Now, bubbles or no bubbles? I vote for bubbles."

Two hours later, a yellow Porsche pulled up in front of Chief Swan's house. It idled before parking next to a banged up Rabbit.

"Do you smell that?" Jasper smiled hoping that Alice would follow suit. The old Alice would. This Alice grabbed the first thing she saw in her closet and put it on after her bath. There was no deliberating or makeup painstakingly applied. Just a renewed eagerness to be reunited with her beloved niece and second family. Alice clutched at his hand. Jasper could sense her growing hope.

"She's really here, Jasper."

"So is Jacob judging by the aroma of wet dog."

"I even missed him. It's strange to think of him as family, but I do."

"Well, let's not waste anymore time out here. Are you ready?"

"With you…always."

They opened their doors at the same time and walked slowly towards the front door.

Inside, they could hear Jacob cautioning the others as he caught the scent of vampire in the vicinity. The door cracked open and Jacob peeked out. His eyes widened as he took in what must surely be a mirage. He opened the door wider and for the first time in a long time, Jasper saw a genuine smile on his wife's face as their niece flew into her arms.

"Aunt Alice! Aunt Alice!" Renesmee cried. Alice swung her around as she hugged her tightly.

"Oh my sweetheart! Nessie, baby! You're here! You're really here! I've missed you so much!"

Renesmee was sobbing. She hadn't lost this part of her family. There were here and they were real. She just held on tighter.

"Hey, Nessie, got a hug for your uncle?" Jasper was grinning at the reunion before him.

Alice passed her niece to her husband. Renesmee stretched out her arms to embrace him. She was practically choking on her tears.

"Uncle Jasper! I…missed…you!" Her lips quivered. Jasper sent calming waves to her and gently smoothed her hair. "Oh my sweet girl. We've thought of nothing but you. We've missed you so much."

It's not easy to sneak up on a vampire, but that's just what Jacob did when he scooped Alice up into his arms and enveloped her in a hug.

"Alice." It was all he could squeak out. The Cullens had become like family to him and Jacob no longer saw them as enemies. They would forever be family. When Jacob released her and put her back on the ground, Alice looked up to see Charlie standing in the doorway, hands in his pockets.

"Charlie…" she started. She wasn't sure how he would react to seeing them again. After all, for all intents and purposes, they had "abandoned" the family. She could only imagine what he would think.

"Angel." That said it all. That was what he used to call her when he was first getting to know her when she helped Bella that first summer. Angel. To Charlie, that's all she would ever be. He walked over to her and threw his arms around her in a fierce hug.

"Sweetheart," his voice faltered. "Where have you been?"

"Running. Always running."

"From the Volturi?" Alice slackened the embrace and looked up at him. It was startling to hear that reference coming from Charlie's lips.

"Yes. Running from the Volturi and trying to find Nessie's future."

"Her future?" Charlie was confused.

"We wanted to find others like her. We did too. All healthy and immortal, stunted at twenty."

Charlie hugged Alice again upon hearing this news. He too had been tormented about Nessie's fate. Would she speed towards old age once more or be all alone in her immortality? Relief washed over him when he was assured that she would always have her aunt and uncle.

When they pulled apart, Renesmee was at Alice's side holding her arms out, wanting her aunt to pick her up. Alice did so gladly and kissed her niece's cheek. Renesmee traced the tears on her aunt's cheeks that only she could see. While doing so, Renesmee transferred the deep love she had for her aunt and uncle to Alice. Alice leaned in and they touched noses.

"I love you too. Always."

Just then Alice felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Sue Clearwater smiling at her.

"Welcome home." Alice shifted Renesmee in her arms and was able to give Sue a one armed hug. Sue was surprised, but deep down she knew Alice was a good person and embraced her back. "I thought I would check in on these two after my shift and saw the front door was open. Talk about a surprise!"

Charlie had started to shake Jasper's hand, but then decided he was family. So he let go of his rapidly disappearing inhibitions and hugged Jasper. It was still a manly hug though, no matter how much his grand-daughter softened him.

"It's good to have you back."

"It's good to see you, Charlie." It took Jasper a second to remember his thirst. He realized that when it came to family, bloodlust just did not exist for him.

From his chair, Billy witnessed the coming together of a family. They weren't humans, vampires or werewolves. They were beings with a common bond. Simply, they loved.

Jasper walked over to Billy and bowed, not daring to make a move that would make the man uncomfortable. Billy held out his hand. When Jasper took it, Billy pulled him into a hug. Alice and Renesmee watched and for the first time in a long time, they didn't feel so empty. Alice felt a glimmer of her former optimism awaken.

"Aunt Alice! I want to show you something. It's in the kitchen!" Alice set her on the ground and Renesmee took her hand, leading her. "Uncle Jasper! You have to come too!" They gladly followed her into the kitchen. She stopped in front of the refrigerator that was covered with all of her gold-starred schoolwork and drawings. Her aunt and uncle took in all of the pages quickly and felt a sense of pride.

"You're going to school? That's so wonderful!" Jasper tousled her hair as she clung to his leg.

"I go to school on the reservation. I have a really nice teacher. Her name is Mrs. Whiteheart. She's the best! And I have a lot of friends. I'm going to Callie's birthday party on Sunday afternoon. I have to buy her a gift. Maybe you can buy it with me!"

"Of course, sweetheart. I am so proud of you! This is just so wonderful." Alice leaned down and kissed Renesmee several times all over her face. "You're such a smart girl! Smart and beautiful!"

"And I have my own room. It was my mommy's room. I didn't change it, but now it's my room too."

Alice nodded and smiled. It was difficult to acknowledge that her sister was gone even if it was Renesmee who was now living in the infamous bedroom of the former Bella Swan.

"Can I show you? I want to show you my new clothes that Grandpa bought me." She began to lead her aunt towards the staircase. Renesmee was practically halfway up the stairs at this point.

Once upstairs, Renesmee pushed the door to her room open and towed Alice in. She went to her closet and threw open the doors.

"See? Aren't they pretty?" Her aunt's approval was important to the little girl. Alice looked through everything hanging in the closet and oohed and aahed for effect.

"Oh, so pretty! Good job, Nessie! You must be the best dressed girl in school." Renesmee smiled widely, thrilled that she had done well.

"I hate to break up the reunion," said Charlie who was standing in the doorway, "But Nessie has to take her bath and get to bed. She's got school tomorrow."

Alice helped her with her bath that night. She had done it so many times before that it was an easy pattern to fall back into.

"So why did you cut your hair?"

"Sue said I had to because it was a big knot. When we were away, Jacob didn't know how to do my hair. He's not like Aunt Rose."

Alice let out a guffaw. Jasper smiled to himself downstairs as her laughter lit up his heart.

"No, he certainly is not! Now, your friend, Callie, what kind of things does she like? Maybe we can go shopping after school on Friday."

"Oh yes, please!" Renesmee was ecstatic at the prospect of a shopping trip with her aunt. Just like old times.

"What's Callie like? Does she like Barbie dolls?" asked Alice as she battled her niece's tangled locks.

Renesmee gave this some serious thought.

"Not really. She has a lot of brothers and Sue said she's a tomboy."

"Okay, so maybe we get her a game of some type. Now where is this party? Do we need to get you a new outfit?"

"It's at a place called Chuck E. Cheese. I've never been there before."

"Well, we shall investigate then,"

Alice rinsed Renesmee's hair and finished the bath. Shortly afterwards, Alice was turning down the bed and Renesmee jumped in.

"Aunt Alice, will you stay with me?"

"Of course, my love." Alice made sure the girl was tucked in tightly.

"I like your pajamas, Nessie." The little girl looked down at her white pajamas dotted with blue flowers.

"Grandpa got them for me at Target."

"He did? Well, he did a very good job."

"Sue helped."

"Ah, as I suspected." Alice knew all too well that Charlie had…limitations. "He's a good grandpa, isn't he?"

"He's the best." Renesmee's eyes started to become wet with tears.

"And he loves you so much." Renesmee nodded not quite able to get the words out. Alice lay down next to her and gathered her into her arms. The little girl grabbed on with all her might.

"I love you too." She whispered.

"I love you too, my angel."

"What about Uncle Jasper? Can he stay too?" Alice just hugged her tighter.

"Of course, we'll always stay with you," Her eyes fell on the picture of Edward and Bella on the nightstand. "Forever and ever." It was a promise that she would never break.

The next thing they knew, Jasper had gently launched himself on the bed on the other side of Renesmee.

"Is there room for one more?" Renesmee giggled as Jasper tickled her. She was in heaven, nestled between her loved ones who were nothing short of answered prayers.

"So I hear that we have quite the swimmer in the family now."

"We do?" asked Alice, feigning surprise.

"Mmhmm. Not only a swimmer, but also the student of the month in Mrs. Whiteheart's class."

"Student of the month? Really?"

Renesmee was proud and couldn't contain her grin.

"AND…an accomplished chef!"

"Nooooo!"

"Yes! I've been told she makes a meatloaf that rivals anything made by the great chefs of Europe!"

"Uncle Jasper!" Renesmee's giggles were the sweetest sounds they had heard ever since they had heard each other's voices for the first time.

"Grandpa Charlie said so and Grandpa Charlie doesn't lie. He can't. He's the chief of police."

Alice gently stroked Nessie's cheek.

"You're everything I knew you would be when you were born. Smart and kind and beautiful."

"You didn't think that when I was in mommy's tummy!" She playfully admonished her aunt. "I know! I heard you all!"

"You heard no such thing form me, missy! I had a headache until you were born!"

"I'm sorry!"

"I'm not. One month of agony and look what I got in the end. You were the best gift ever."

"I thought your Birkin bag was your best gift ever!" Renesmee laughed.

"Well, you certainly run a close second!" Her aunt always joked about her prized Hermes handbag, but Renesmee knew she was only kidding.

"Now, my love, it's time for you to go to sleep. You have school tomorrow." Renesmee's heart raced and panic set in.

"But, but will you leave me? Are you going to stay?"

"Shhh…sweetheart, we're never leaving you. Our place will always be with you." Jasper looked on and marveled at the ease of Alice's rapport with the child. While he loved his niece, it took a great effort on his part to interact with children.

"So just close your eyes and take deep breaths. We'll be here when you wake up."

Maybe it was the excitement. Maybe it was a long day. Renesmee was fast asleep minutes later. Jasper had taken Alice's hand and the two watched over the little one as she slept.

Soon, a figure darkened the hallway outside the bedroom door. Charlie watched them watching her. Alice looked over at him and Charlie smiled.

"We'll chat in the morning." Alice nodded. "Glad you're back, Angel."

In that moment, a silent agreement had passed and a girl was reunited with her dad.

Charlie made his way down the hall and got ready for bed. The day had been long and stressful. Sleep took him quickly.

For so long, the sound of tearless cries had been Jasper's companion. He had forgotten what happiness and joy sounded like. They had changed since they had last met. For Jasper, happiness was the sound of deep breaths and a fluttering heart.

_**A/N: I have to admit that I'm not thrilled with this chapter. It's not what I had hoped. But on to the next chapter! Thank you again for taking the time to read and review!**_


	5. Chapter 5

THOSE LEFT BEHIND CH 5

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Stephenie Meyer owns it all.**_

"You want me to what?" Charlie's eyebrows immediately raised in disbelief as he tried to decipher what Nessie was trying to say.

"I want…I want…," She struggled to make herself understood through the tears. "I want you to lock him in the jailhouse and throw away the key!" She choked on her tears as she urged her grandfather to take action on her behalf.

Charlie lifted her up onto his lap and rubbed slow circles on her back while Sue dabbed at her tears with a tissue. He was sitting with the rest of the parents at Callie's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese while the children played. Sue was seated next to him.

"Sweetheart, who are you talking about?" Sue asked.

"The scary man with the red hair and the white face! He jumped out at me and started chasing me with his horn." Both Charlie and Sue surveyed the room until they came across the person who must be the logical offender.

"Do you mean the clown?" Charlie asked. Nessie shrugged.

"I didn't ask his name."

_Ah_, Charlie thought to himself. This was one of those instances where he would have to explain something to Nessie that was common knowledge to most children. The same other children who watched as the clown in the blue and yellow suit dazzled them with his balloon animal expertise.

"A clown is what he is. Usually, you see them at a circus, but sometimes they come to birthday parties. He didn't mean you any harm. He's just a joker. He tells jokes and makes things out of balloons. A clown is supposed to be fun or funny even." Nessie was not convinced.

Still safe in her grandfather's arms with Sue nearby, Nessie watched as the other children laughed as the clown twisted a balloon. She cracked a bit of a smile when she saw a boy from her class get squirted with water when he leaned in to smell the clown's flower.

Nessie wasn't ready to take a closer look, but she was beginning to understand. The other children squealed with delight. There were no tears except hers. She may have understood, but she stayed with her guardians, enjoying a slice of pizza and Kool-Aid.

Up until the clown incident, it had been a marvelous day.

Alice had been disappointed that the venue didn't lend itself to fancier attire, but she had been over early on Saturday morning to help Nessie get ready for her party. She had decked Nessie out in jeans (designer) and a brown sweater with purple flowers (Target). It was her first lesson in mixing high and low end items. The outfit was finished off with pink sneakers.

While Alice put her hair in French braids, they discussed strategy. Even though the party was at a public place, it was still a Quileute event so she was not allowed.

"Now, Nessie, there are going to be children there from all of the other kindergarten classes, so it's important to mingle."

"What's that mean?" Nessie was seated at Alice's feet while she sat in the rocking chair in Nessie's room.

"It means that you say hello to everyone and introduce yourself. Get to know the other kids." Perhaps Alice was living vicariously through her niece ever so slightly.

Nessie thought this was a reasonable request. Grandpa Charlie and Sue were going with her because all of the parents were invited too. She thought this mingling idea of Aunt Alice's was a good one. She wanted to prove to Grandpa Charlie that she was a normal girl who fit in with the human world.

"All done," Alice declared. Nessie scrambled to her feet and raced over to the mirror to see her aunt's handiwork. She gently smoothed her fingers over the intricately woven hair.

"Pretty!" Nessie craned her neck every which way to see it. Alice saved her the trouble by holding up a mirror behind her. Nessie turned back around to her aunt. "Are we going to wrap the present now?"

"Yes, I left everything downstairs." Seconds later, Nessie was in the living room rummaging through a shopping bag in danger of tearing the delicate contents. Alice took the bag out of her reach and headed for the kitchen.

"Wait a second, my sweet. We don't want to rip anything." The two settled down at the kitchen table. Alice took a board game out of the bag and with her supervision, Nessie wrapped Callie's gift. It wasn't quite as perfect as it would have been if Alice had done it herself, but the way Nessie smiled at her accomplishment was worth a million crooked bows and conspicuously placed Scotch tape.

Soon they heard Charlie lumbering down the stairs surely on the hunt for some coffee to brace him for a gaggle of five year olds hopped up on too much sugar.

So Alice sent the three off with hand sanitizer and disinfectant spray. She read up on those ball pits and discovered that they were Petri dishes for bacteria. She wasn't taking chances with her half human niece.

However, Alice wanted to be of more help. Well, maybe "help" wasn't exactly right. She wanted more than that. She didn't just want to take Nessie shopping and show her how to do her hair. Instead, she wanted a meaningful part in raising her. Nessie had only known her as being the fun aunt before she had to run off with Jasper. Not that Alice hadn't wanted to be an important part in her niece's life before, but Nessie had parents then. Even with their preoccupations with the Volturi, Edward and Bella took their roles as parents seriously. Aunt Alice could swoop in with hugs or presents and then sashay off when it was time to correct bad behavior or put down a temper tantrum.

The funny thing was that out of all the Cullen women, she barely had a trace of a maternal instinct. In fact, it was practically non-existent. She had no recollection of her human life so she had no idea whether or not she did at one time.

Yet, something in her was stirring. She felt a responsibility to take care of Nessie in the way that any mother took care of her child. It was so jarring to Alice to think of herself as a mother figure, but it was what she wanted more than anything.

Jasper, of course, had picked up on his wife's changing attitudes. The obvious conclusion was that she felt a responsibility to her brother and sister. However, he was of the opinion that his wife's enthusiasm for giving was an amplified need for love. She loved unconditionally, but at times he wondered if the constant shopping and intense care of others was to ensure that she was loved and wanted and needed. Maybe she did remember her human life. Maybe she remembered feeling unloved. Jasper wished he could go back in time and punish her parents for planting the seeds of abandonment in her.

It was in the past though. No one understood better than Jasper how useless it was to try to change the past.

If his wife needed to do this, then he would support her. After all, he too loved Nessie and wanted to be part of her life. After all, someone had to tell her what a wonderful and simultaneously frustrating person her father was.

Jasper did worry, however, that Alice might be overstepping her bounds. Had she stopped for a moment to consider that perhaps Nessie might think Alice was trying to replace her mother? Jasper would gladly step up to take care of her niece, but didn't want her to think he was pushing Edward out of the picture. They would just try to be there for her and guide her the best that they could.

While Nessie, Charlie and Sue were at the birthday party, Alice had gone home and was watching clips of _Supernanny_ on Youtube. Nessie was fairly well-behaved so Alice was horrified at what she was seeing. Children screaming and hitting and whining and screaming some more. What if Nessie snapped one day? Alice had her work cut out for her.

She spent hours on Amazon searching for books on child rearing. She was also lucky enough to get a free gift when she subscribed to _Parenting_ magazine.

On the following Monday, Alice received a call mid-day from Charlie asking if she would babysit Nessie because a situation came up and he would need to work late. Jake would drive her home from school. Of course, she immediately agreed and got a checklist from Charlie about Nessie's routine. Homework, dinner, bath and bedtime story. A little television was fine, but he didn't want her to turn into a zombie. Alice fought back a laugh at that one.

Alice marveled at how the relationship between Charlie and Nessie had changed. Now he was taking on the role of disciplinarian. She recalled one day when Nessie had come home after spending a Sunday afternoon with Charlie.

The family had all been watching a movie and Nessie was now especially wound up. She was spinning and twirling with her arms out all around the room.

"And we went fishing! And I caught a big fish! And then we watched the game! And the Mariners won! And Grandpa said I could have all the pizza and ice cream and chocolate I wanted because he thinks I'm too skinny!"

"Oh really?" Bella raised her eyebrow. "Well, I'm going to have a talk with Grandpa. He doesn't have to deal with the sugar crash."

"And Grandpa said he's gonna take me to the next game in Seattle and he's gonna buy us matching hats and shirts!"

"No way is she your kid," Emmett pointed at Edward and then he turned his attention to Bella. "And she sure as hell isn't yours. She's too much fun."

Jasper grabbed Nessie and sat her between himself and Emmett. "Ness, I don't think these are your real parents."

Emmett winked at Bella. "She could be mine. There was that weekend when Rose was away." Emmett tickled his niece until she was doubled over in hysterics. "How 'bout it Ness? Am I your real daddy?"

"Yes, Nessie, are you a demon child?" Edward grinned at Emmett.

"I'm not a demon child!" She protested. She lowered her voice. "But Leah is!" She let out a cross between a chortle and a cackle as she laughed at her own joke. Her uncles joined her which was always Nessie's goal.

"Yeah, Bella," Emmett said between gasps. "I'll be needing that DNA test. Somebody call Maury!"

It was a good memory.

So, later that day armed with the spare key that Charlie had given her, Alice entered the Swan home as a child-care provider. A maternal figure. She planned to build her niece's self esteem through positive reinforcement and continue the routines that Charlie had started. Children craved boundaries and security. At least that's what this _Supernanny_ chick said and she was making millions.

Alice had arrived early. The house was clean, but needed to be tidied. They had obviously left in a rush this morning. So, she gathered up the sports pages into a pile in the living room and fluffed all the cushions. She washed the breakfast dishes that had been left in the sink. She made Charlie's bed. Apparently, Nessie was responsible for her own. She hung up the wet towels and even did a load of laundry.

She looked at the clock and realized that Jacob and Nessie would be arriving shortly. She proceeded to set an afterschool snack out for her niece. Milk and cookies. Just like on television.

Mrs. Whitlock was taking the clothes out of the dryer when she heard Jacob's car outside. She left her domestic post and went to greet them. She opened the door ready for a cuddle and a kiss to welcome the little girl home, but Nessie pushed past her and stormed up the stairs as quickly as her little legs would carry her. The walls shook as the door to her bedroom slammed.

Alice looked at Jacob and held her hands up in question.

"I think this should explain part of it," Jacob pulled a crumpled pink sheet of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. He walked into the kitchen and set Nessie's backpack down on the kitchen table while Alice read the piece of paper.

"Oh no," Alice sighed. "Well this is just great. She gave this to you?" She followed Jacob into the kitchen shaking her head in disbelief.

"Nope, Billy found it in the trash. Neither of us really gets notes on hot pink paper so he was curious when he saw it sitting on top."

"A Father-Daughter Squaredance! The timing couldn't be more awful!"

"I know, but they have it every year. They can't cancel it just because of Nessie." Jacob helped himself to the cookies since Nessie had no use for them.

Nessie's anger had turned to sadness and she was quietly sobbing upstairs. Alice knew this was her cue. She thought back to her studies. Just what the hell would that Supernanny do? She wished Jasper had been there to lull Nessie into sleep until she figured out what to say, but he had gone to Seattle to touch base with J. Jenks now that they were back.

She couldn't stand to hear Nessie in pain. Alice raced up the stairs and quietly slipped into Nessie's bedroom. Nessie was lying on her stomach, sprawled out across the bed, clutching a pillow tightly. She was still wearing her coat and her sneakers.

Alice gently lowered herself on the bed and began to lightly stroke Nessie's hair. Nessie's face was buried in the pillow, but upon her aunt's touch, she turned her face to the side. Alice grabbed a tissue and began drying Nessie's tears. Then she picked up Nessie and put her on her lap.

"Here, you're all tangled up in your coat. How about we take it off? And your shoes too." She waited until Nessie nodded to proceed. Once her armour was removed, Alice held her. At one point, she carried Nessie over to the rocking chair and gently rocked back and forth. Nessie began to quiet down and her heartbeat became steady.

"Now, sweetheart, I'm so sorry that the squaredance upset you." Nessie remained quiet. "Don't worry, you don't have to go. Or if you want to go, that's okay too. Uncle Jasper can teach Grandpa Charlie to squaredance. Uncle Jasper used to squaredance all the time when he was younger. Did you know that?"

Nessie shook her head. She was aware that her uncle was a Southern gentleman, but she wasn't aware that he knew how to dance.

"Whatever makes you feel comfortable, okay? I'm sure Mrs. Whiteheart would understand. Don't you worry."

It was definitely too early to expect a child that had just lost her parents to attend such a specific activity. Alice couldn't imagine Charlie or the school forcing her to attend. They had all been very sensitive to Nessie and her needs.

Yet, Nessie began to sob again. Alice thought her reassurances would have made the child feel somewhat more secure, but this incident had seemingly brought up all her feelings of loss to the surface. She knew Charlie was doing the best he could, but perhaps Nessie needed the help of a professional. She hoped that there was a psychologist on the reservation because they couldn't exactly take her to a doctor in Forks.

Alice tightened her hold on her niece. "I've got you. You just let it all out." For a few minutes, Nessie did just that. Then she showed her aunt something that she didn't expect.

"Crybaby Cullen! Ha! Ha! Ha!" The other children on the playground shouted and laughed as Nessie tried to jump rope with her friends. They were the mean boys who had taunted her like before. Alice could feel how her niece had been trying not to cry, but her tears betrayed her and a few escaped. Samantha, Callie and Teddy all gathered around her, but they couldn't get the boys to stop. Someone had blabbed to them about what happened at the birthday party.

Alice was not someone who operated from a place of anger, but one of hope. However, if this half-human child wasn't sitting on her lap clinging to her, she would tear down every single tree in Washington State and smash the stone cliffs by the beach into dust.

For someone who never had maternal instincts, Mother Nature was showing her otherwise. The Mama Bear hidden deep down inside Alice Cullen had woken and she would do anything to protect her cub.

Even from snot-nosed elementary school brats.

However, she couldn't do anything drastic since they still needed the reservation to allow Nessie to go to school there.

As frustrating as it was to feel so neutered, Alice chose to go down the road well traveled. If there was on truism that Alice had seen during her many, many, many years of high school, it was that ignoring a bully eventually bored them and caused them to move on. This was exactly what she was going to tell Nessie to do.

"And then they said that I couldn't go to the dance because I don't have a daddy," Nessie whispered. Alice hugged her niece a little tighter after hearing that admission.

"I said that I did have a daddy and his name is Edward and that he loves me. But they said he was dead. Then someone else said that he was a very bad man and that bad people can't love so he never really loved me. They said he was only pretended to love me because he was stuck with me."

"Nessie, you know that's not true. Your daddy and your mommy loved you more than anything else. You were the most important thing to them in the whole world. Never ever doubt that."

Nessie didn't answer. She closed her eyes and leaned into her aunt's cool embrace. She pretended that it was her mother holding her.

"And he was a good man. A nice man. Do you think Grandma Esme and Grandpa Carlisle would ever let him be bad or misbehave? Hmmm?" Nessie half-heartedly shook her head that she did not. "I mean, couldn't you just see Grandma uprooting a big ole evergreen tree and smacking your daddy with it on his behind if he was bad?" Alice hoped her joking manner would cheer Nessie up.

She was right because Nessie giggled through her tears. She touched her hand to Alice's face and showed her what she imagined that might look like. An angry Esme ran after a frightened Edward, swinging the tree around while trying to catch him.

"Now…sweetheart…why don't we go splash some water on your face and get you cleaned up? You're a Cullen and what are Cullens known for?"

"Being meticulous."

"That's right. Then we'll go downstairs and you can start your homework. I'll get dinner started." Alice couldn't believe she was going to cook a meal.

"Monday is taco night!" Nessie remembered.

It was an hour after Alice had put Nessie to bed that she heard Charlie's patrol car coming down the street. She turned off the TV and headed to the kitchen with the advance knowledge that Charlie was about to inhale her tacos the minute she set the plate down in front of him.

"Alice," he whispered as he came through the door.

"In the kitchen."

Charlie had put his jacket away in the hall closet and followed the smell of Tex Mex.

"Oh, you are an angel! I only had three cups of stale coffee. The younger guys snatched up all of the donuts. "Don't think I'm not bringing that up at their yearly reviews." He dug in and Alice grabbed a Vitamin R for him before taking a seat across from him.

"So, you finally caught the guy down by the old mill? What an idiot! That's always the first place the police look."

"Not before he led us on a chase, but I mean…wait, how did you know? I didn't—"

Alice just tapped her head.

"I can make you a millionaire by next Tuesday."

Charlie shook his head and took a drink. "I'll never get used to that. So did Nessie give you any trouble?"

"Well," Alice sighed. "She had a bit of a difficult day."

"Oh?" Charlie's face shot up at that and he looked her straight in the eye. "What happened?"

"Two things really."

Charlie put down his fork and leaned back while crossing his arms in front of him. "Go on."

"First of all, the school is having a father-daughter squaredance."

Charlie blew out the breath he had been holding and looked up. "That's gotta hurt."

"Yes, especially when some of her classmates rather cruelly pointed out that she no longer had a father. A father they claim was a bad man who never loved her. Couldn't possibly love her."

"Shit, I'm gonna call Billy. He's gotta know how to stop this nonsense. Talk to the elders on the council or something. I mean, I know kids are kids and all that, but this has got to stop!"

"I agree. There's more though. I haven't gotten to the second part yet. You see, word got out that she was afraid of the clown at the party. Some of the kids ganged up on her and called her a crybaby."

This would not do. This would not do at all. Charlie got up from the table and walked over to the phone on the wall. He picked up the receiver and started dialing as though the phone had personally offended him in some way.

Alice could hear Billy's voice answer the line on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Billy, it's me."

"Oh hey there. What's up?"

"I really need your help. It's Nessie."

"Did something happen? Is she alright?"

"Well, there's a group of kids on the reservation who are giving her problems and just being plain mean. I could really use your help."

Charlie recounted to Billy what Alice had told him. He was outraged and made solemn promises to Charlie that he would get to the bottom of the taunting. Even though Nessie had been a model student and well behaved, people held fast to old prejudices.

The police chief hung up the phone feeling that his attempts to right a wrong would be carried out. He would call Mrs. Whiteheart tomorrow and explain about the dance.

"You know," Alice said quietly, "You could always take Nessie to the dance." Charlie sat back down at the table.

"Ha! Yeah, me at the dance. I want her to _stop_ getting teased. Not give those brats new material."

"How in the hell did you and Renee ever end up together in the first place? Seriously, what brought the two of you together? Renee danced with everyone at the wedding. Even Reverend Webber! She even convinced Eleazar to do the electric slide. Eleazar!" Alice remembered fondly how she and the rest of the Denalis outright cackled with glee at the look on his face when Renee pulled him to the dance floor.

"Who the heck is Eleazar?"

"He was a vampire from Alaska. He liked to dance, but he stuck to the waltz and the like. You met him." Charlie's face did not register any recognition. "Believe me, you'd recognize him if you saw him. But forget that, the point is you should take Nessie if she wants to go. Jasper could teach you some moves."

"Do you think she wants to go? Cos if she wants to, I mean…"

"Well, I think she should have the option. She hasn't said anything yet. She was too busy thinking about the other kids teasing her."

"Cos I'll go ya know."

Alice smiled at him. "I know. You're a good grandpa." She glanced at the wall clock. "I think I'd better head home now. Jasper is probably home by now. I have no idea. I've been too distracted by the Nessie situation."

Charlie started to get up from the table. "I'll walk you out."

Alice had already walked into the hall and was putting on her coat.

"Charlie," she laughed. "You do realize I'm a vampire, right?"

Yes, I know, but it's still polite and you're family. So shoot me. I want to make sure you get to your car okay."

"I'm not complaining. I'm just glad chivalry isn't dead."

The next morning, Charlie took Nessie to school and made sure to look every one of those kids in the eye just daring them to try and upset his baby. His badge had been shined up and he made sure to turn the sirens on briefly as they entered the parking lot. When it was time to say goodbye, Nessie reached up for a hug and squeezed a bit tighter. Charlie hugged her back because he though she was frightened, but instead she felt really loved.

That night at dinner, while digging into their bowls of spaghetti, Charlie decided to bring up the Father-Daughter dance.

"So Nessie, how was school today?"

Nessie was distracted by a seemingly endless attempt to wrap her spaghetti around her fork with little success. Sometimes she really didn't understand humans and their weird foods.

"It was fine." She shrugged.

"Just fine?"

"Mmhmm."

"No one is bothering you?"

"Not today."

"Well, that's good," Charlie took a deep breath. "So that dance is coming up pretty soon."

"I guess," Nessie directed her attention to the spaghetti again.

"Is that something you wanted to go to?" Charlie put it out there nonchalantly.

"But I can't go if I don't have a daddy."

"Well, that's not true, honey."

But you're my grandpa, not my daddy."

"I'm sure you aren't the only girl whose father won't be there. I'm sure there will be grandpas and stepfathers and uncles who will be there instead of fathers who can't be."

Nessie was thoughtful for a moment. "My daddy was a good dancer."

"He was. I remember. You should have seen your mom and dad's first dance at their wedding."

"I did!" Her face let up. "I saw a DVD of it."

"You did? Well, I bet you're just as good of a dancer."

"I don't know."

"Well, all I'm saying is that if you want to go to the dance, don't feel like you can't go. And you know what else? If you don't want to go, that's okay too. Alright? You just tell grandpa what you want to do. Or not do."

In the days that followed, Nessie gave it a lot of thought. It might be fun to go to a dance. And if Uncle Jasper could teach them how to square dance, it would be even better. Wouldn't everyone be surprised by how good they were!

She thought a lot about whether or not it would hurt her father's feelings. If he was in heaven, then he would be watching, wouldn't he? Nessie thought back to watching her parents' first dance at their wedding and decided that she would want to dance like that at her wedding one day. So she decided that she should start to learn now. Although, she wasn't sure what square dancing was, she decided she should give it a try.

However, she wouldn't get a chance to find out.

Even though Billy had worked with the tribal council to get the word out about Bessie being taunted, there were those that just didn't care. They would not be muzzled. A vampire was a vampire. No matter whom her grandfather was or even the one who had been.

This bone-deep intolerance was revealed when a baseball slammed into the back of Nessie's skull on the playground. They wanted to see exactly how hard they could hit her before it did any real damage.

The sweet little girl dropped to her knees with her head in the hands screaming, wailing and sobbing. She was hurt, absolutely, but she was in pain at the cruelty those around her displayed.

She screamed for one of her protectors to help her. Grandpa Charlie, Aunt Alice, Uncle Jasper, Jacob. She wanted her mother and father the most. And then she cried harder knowing that they would never come.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Happy **_**The**__**Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1**_** opening weekend**!


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